Australia

On June 2, 2012, the Australia National Conference met to consider a question that is also of interest to the Community of Christ in Canada.  The following statement was released following the conference.

Re-posted By Carman

Australia National Conference Recommends Policy Change
First Presidency and Council of Twelve Will Have to Approve before Implementation

The Australia National Conference was held June 2. After years of study, dialogue, and prayer, church members gathered at the Drummoyne Congregation in Sydney to address one topic: whether ordination should be open to people who are in long-term, committed, same-sex relationships.
After hearing multiple perspectives, including views from international representatives, the Australia National Conference, by more than the required two-thirds majority, made the following recommendation to the First Presidency and the Council of Twelve Apostles:

We support the ordination of individuals who are called by God through the processes established by Community of Christ, who are in long-term, committed, homosexual relationships, i.e. de facto relationships (this is a legally recognized relationship status in Australia for same-sex and opposite-sex couples), and recommend that the First Presidency and the Council of Twelve Apostles proceed to prepare and implement policy allowing these calls to be considered, and, if approved, for ordinations to proceed within the Australia Mission Centre.

The First Presidency and the Council of Twelve will need to approve the policy revision recommended by the Australia National Conference. To develop, approve, and implement interim policies can take up to one year. Any policy change will pertain only to the Australia Mission Centre. Other nations will continue to abide by existing church policies.
The movement of the Holy Spirit affirmed that this recommendation is appropriate for church members in Australia at this time. As a worldwide church, our members strive for unity and understanding in the midst of diverse opinions and feelings as we pursue our mission to proclaim Jesus Christ and promote communities of joy, hope, love, and peace. 
Community of Christ is an international church with nearly a quarter million members in about 50 nations of the world. There are about 2,900 members in Australia. While we are united around the world in Christ’s mission, because of our broad expanse of cultures some issues must be addressed in national conferences. (See Doctrine and Covenants 164:7.)
Our Enduring Principles guide national conference interactions. These gatherings offer opportunities to experience the Blessings of Community as we explore how to uphold the Worth of All Persons, respond to the understanding that All Are Called, and celebrate Unity in Diversity.

Happy New Year

I thought that news on the 2012 Canadian National Video/Conference would make for a great segue as we enter 2012. I cannot believe that this is 2012! I can believe that time passes quickly, so be prepared:

• The conference will be conducted through live video;
• It will be broadcast from 15 different Canadian “Host Sites”;
• This is a member conference, (meaning that all will be able to participate);
• Recommendation(s) from conference will be influential in changes or non-changes;
• The Mission Initiatives are supported by the conference Team, including: a) collection of 2012 lbs (912.6 kg) of food and/or clothing towards “Abolishing Poverty and End Suffering” and b) Peace Awards acknowledging those who “Pursue Peace on Earth”;
• This is a first for Canada, be part of a historical event;
• Polling will be done by casting ballots;
• This is a one day event;
• World Church has created a conference logo for Canada;
• Is your congregation a host site? Where do you go to join the conference?
• Please respond graciously by lending a hand on conference day and/or by donating to help off-set cost of holding the conference;
• Take note on the required equipment. Maybe your congregation just needs to add a couple of missing pieces to take advantage of World Church broadcasts or hooking up live with another congregation;
• Understand the conference questions, take advantage of the dialogue sessions;
• Discern, pray, share, listen and participate. Get in on the conversation;
• View the timely release of the video teasers by Apostle Susan Skoor on the web site;
• Familiarize yourself with the 5 Mission Initiatives;
• Attend a conference video trial from your host site, interesting stuff;
• There will be 3 timed components of the conference. Such as:
-A pre-linked portion > a time of gathering, worship, orientation, celebration and offering including the singing of our National Anthem.
-Linked portion > the time in which all Canadian members are linked by technology through video/audio and engaged in conference business.
-The post-linked portion of conference. A time for reflection, thanking God for this opportunity and feeling good about the day’s activities and process no matter what the outcome.
• Find more conference information on the Canadian website.
• An estimated 700 plus member participants from all of Canada.
• Remember, the conference date is Saturday, June 16th 2012 beginning at 12:00 noon EST.

This is your formal invitation to our first Canadian National Conference. You have 168 days from January 1st to prepare for conference.

May God add his blessing in all that you do in 2012. Aim high, set some goals and all your achievements will be well worth the effort.

…Get in on the conversation…see you at conference.

Tim J. Stanlick

Voices

We’ve just come from our 2011 Mission conference. It was wonderful to hear so many voices sharing the stories of what they’re doing and how they’re working on the Goals and Initiatives that we, corporately, have espoused. (We did do that you know, when we raised our hands to sustain people and approve budgets!)

Do you all remember when the President and the Bishop were the only people to talk at these events? (Occasionally someone who’d been instructed to say “I so move” when given the nod from the chair?) Most of the voices actually heard were part of the cacophony in the breaks, the aisles and the lunch room. Oh those “chatter day saints” are still there; after all, it’s in the DNA!

There is still more room for voices to be heard. As one of the introverts in the crowd, let me offer a bit of advice to us all. (Here's a reminder, if you need to refer to it.) It took me years to gather courage to speak up in such a gathering. You’ll notice that I’m still not likely to be the first up, or to say very much more than I feel is absolutely necessary. I look around and see many of you I understand very well as fellow-introverts. I know it takes you time to reflect on the information, to listen to the comments being made, to consider what you might want to read or research before you really know what you could say. It’s highly unlikely that we’ll still be talking about the same issue, and by then the vote has been taken and we’re on to the next item of business.

Now, here’s my advice. Do not neglect to do that research and reflecting. Your perspective can still be heard. The benefit of your reflection must be part of the input to our decisions. Folks often report they are faithful blog readers, but have never left a comment. The Blog is the perfect place for introverts! Here you can take the time you need to reflect, to preview your comment, adjust and edit until it says exactly what you mean before you hit Publish. Please do that! We need the benefit of your thoughtful reflection and that is a good way to put it out there.

To those who organize dialogue sessions and business meetings: please make some spaces for the thoughtful, reflective introverted voices to be heard. Invite some of them to prepare thoughts in advance and to share from a script or a slide presentation they’ve had time to make it say exactly what they want to say. Make spaces in your agenda for getting those other ideas out—not just the ideas of people who love to talk.

We have several months before our National Conference. Be sure that your voice is part of that experience. Find out how the dialogue will be happening in your congregation and ensure all our voices get into the mix. It is NOT a one-time event for bold extroverts. It’s a long, slow reflection for sharing in groups big and small. It’s important that your voice be heard.

Posted by Marion

Bubble

A conversation I had this morning brought to mind this “other” meaning for the word bubble. This is not the lovely, airy bit of nothing that I recommend you blow from time to time just because you need to feel good. No. I’m thinking about how easy it is for us to live in a bubble these days—and how important it is to get ourselves out of there, should it happen.

Despite a world that gets smaller and smaller and every community becoming more and more diverse, some of us react by retreating into a bubble. By this I mean that we surround ourselves with people just like us who think exactly as we do and we put up a wall that keeps out anything that might disturb our personal peace.

I do understand why many people really prefer to “live in a bubble.” My morning newscast is full of tragedy, both local and global. Some days I am one of those people who choose just not to listen. But I do get troubled when more and more of the folks around me have no idea what’s going on in the world and whose response to every conversation is “I never listen to the news.”

This becomes even easier as we choose which of our friends to pay attention to on facebook, or narrow our news sources to only those we’re sure to agree with.

My concern today is that one of the critical Mission Initiatives we’ve signed up for is “Pursue peace on earth.” Seems to me that if I’m to pursue Christ’s mission of justice and peace, I need to engage in some effort to know what the issues are. How will I contribute to causes of justice if I never allow myself to hear the stories of need, or to understand how this or that solution might help?

During the next several months we’re going to be invited into a conversation that will culminate in a national conference. Between now and June 2012 there will be opportunities to be a part of a process to engage as many of us as possible in discerning the direction for the years to come. It’s going to be a conversation about compassion and justice; and it’s not going to be easy.

I’m sorry to report that I’ve heard far too many folks who’ve elected (so far) to remain in the bubble on this topic. They think they’ve said and heard all they’re willing to say and hear and they intend to just remain on the sidelines until it’s all over. Please don’t be one of those bubble folk.

There are many exciting things that can and will come from this national conference experience. Not least of them will be a kind of “test run” to engage Canadians in more of these nation-wide conversations about issues and questions of special concern to us in this country. Can we, as Canadian members of Community of Christ contribute a perspective for the global church? We’ll never know if we allow ourselves to remain in our bubbles.

Posted by Marion