Toronto

The world is certainly changing. That statement won’t come as a surprise to anybody, since at times it feels as if change is the one true constant in our world.

What has me thinking about that this morning is the continually evolving presence of Community of Christ in the city of Toronto. I am by no means an expert on the history of the church in the city, but I do know that only a few generations ago there was one downtown church on Soho street, and a small northern mission on Sudan Avenue, "way up North" in the Mount Pleasant and Eglington area. To the West was the Humber Bay “branch”, and out in the country, way to the Northwest, stood the old Woodbridge church. Soho Street was eventually sold and replaced by a brand new presence on Bathurst Street, and the North Toronto group joined in. This new building was built in stages and I believe was not finally completed until the 1960s.

In the optimistic period of the 1950s and ‘60s, the city of Toronto rapidly expanded into the suburban areas, and so did the church. New “missions” were established in Scarborough, Downsview, Cooksville and Oshawa, and a new church was contructed in Woodbridge. By 1970 we had six congregations in the so called Greater Toronto Area; Toronto (Bathurst Street), Scarborough, Willowdale, Woodbridge, Etobicoke and Mississauga, all with good, solid, and mostly new buildings. The Oshawa group continued to meet sporadically with the members eventually joining Scarborough.

In the latter part of the 20th century, the post-WWII optimism of the church was confronted by the unforeseen reality of the so called “post-Christian era”. Increasingly empty pews led to a period of consolidation. A much smaller Willowdale made the decision to sell the building and become a house church. The three congregations on the West side of the city, Mississauga, Etobicoke, and Woodbridge, decided to amalgamate and form one stronger unit, now known as GTA-West. This congregation is currently in the process of searching for a new location where they can be effective in their mission, and positively impact the larger community for Christ.

The recent rapid growth of Toronto’s population has seen an insistent demand for housing, especially along the subway routes. A few years ago, Toronto’s downtown congregation began to be approached by developers seeking to buy the property for a condominium site. While such approaches were initially rebuffed, the high cost of maintaining and heating the big building eventually led to a deal, and another change began. As the end of 2011 nears, the congregation is still using the old building but is in the process of planning for a new future; perhaps as part of the new condominium. Once again, the question to be answered is, “How can we best fulfill the mission of Jesus Christ in this community?” This small group of faithful disciples is working to discern the answers.

In Canada’s largest city, the presence of Community of Christ continues to evolve. Currently we have three congregations, Scarborough, Toronto, and GTA-West. All three are working to be about their mission. In this, they follow the example of Jesus who said it best so many years ago;

“I must be about my father’s business.” (Luke 2:49).

Change

It is almost a cliché any more to say that we live in a rapidly changing world. Not only is there a constant stream of change in our lives, but the pace of change is accelerating. New ideas lead to new inventions, and new technologies lead to new services every year. In many ways, it is an amazing time to be alive.

In July of 2010, engineer Peter Smith gave a talk in University of Waterloo’s Beyond the Ring Lecture Series, an excerpt of which was recently published in the University of Waterloo Magazine. Smith says,

"I want to take you through some lessons I learned.

The first lesson is, change is good. How many people like change? If you don’t, learn to love it. Because change creates opportunities."

Now that is an interesting concept; learning to love change because it creates opportunities. Most of us can see that change creates opportunities in business, but even there, not every change is good for everyone…or is it? Some may have a thriving business today and be left holding a handful of obsolete buggy whips tomorrow. Consider the current prospects in the book industry, for example. The invention of the electronic reader means you can carry hundreds of titles with you in your hand or backpack, all on one lightweight little device. Those who are quick to see the business opportunity in that will seize the day. Meanwhile, even at this early stage, hard copy publishers are quietly downsizing and already going out of business. Their opportunity must lie in the change somewhere. Will they see it?

But that is just business, what about in the rest of lives? Is change creating opportunities of us? Let me suggest that it is, and give you a few examples.
• The handheld electronic reader already referred to allows you to download and carry great tomes by the likes of Tolstoy or Dickens without feeling the weight at all. (I know some of you are gasping!) Further, you can add your Bible, your text books and study guides, a few dozen novels, biographies, inspirational titles and various and assorted other genres on the same device, all with no extra weight. What’s more, many of those titles are free. If you love words but hate carrying heavy books around, you are so in luck!
• The invention of social media allows you to create community with old and new friends and acquaintances instantly. Your community knows when you are sick and sends you sympathy, and when you are excited they celebrate with you. How good is that?
• The invention of the cell phone means you virtually need never to be out of touch from your family or friends. Stuck in traffic and late for dinner or an appointment? No problem! Just pull over to the side of the road and make that call.

So let me ask you, dear reader, do you love change? What opportunities is change creating for you these days? Your adoring public would like to know!

Posted by Carman

Virus

I have often been impressed with the way something very small can change everything. I am reminded of this at the moment because some tiny, microscopic virus has gotten into my lungs and laid me low for a few days. In an earlier period, I might have even become a statistic, but fortunately, in our day, there is an antidote and I hope to be well again within a few days. The point of this post, however, is not about my current unexpected period of enforced rest. It is about the ability of small things to bring about big changes.

Take for instance a smile. On the surface, it is little more than the sometimes involuntary twitch of a few small facial muscles. It costs the smiler nothing, takes almost no effort, and depending on their state of mind, the person smiling may even be unaware of it happening. Despite this, a smile can have a huge impact on people and situations. Used appropriately, it can release endorphins, defuse tensions, and even engender feelings of peace and good will.

The smile of a certain young Italian lady, Lisa Gherardini apparently so fascinated and inspired Leonardo de Vinci that it changed European portraiture forever. For 500 years, the world has been fascinated and intrigued with the smile of the Mona Lisa, unquestionably the most famous portrait of all time. Perhaps she is the source of the saying, “Keep smiling - it makes people wonder what you've been up to.”

There are countless sayings inspired by a smile. Here are but a few.

The world always looks brighter from behind a smile. ~Author Unknown

Everyone smiles in the same language. ~Author Unknown

People seldom notice old clothes if you wear a big smile. ~Lee Mildon

Before you put on a frown, make absolutely sure there are no smiles available. ~Jim Beggs

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. ~Mark Twain, Following the Equator

I've never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful. ~Author Unknown

A laugh is a smile that bursts. ~Mary H. Waldrip

Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. ~Mother Teresa

A smile is a powerful weapon; you can even break ice with it. ~Author Unknown

Peace begins with a smile. ~Mother Teresa

Keep smiling; it reassures your friends and confuses your enemies. ~Author Unknown

A smile is like a virus; it infects everyone. ~Me

By now, I hope this small post has helped bring a smile to your face today. If so, why not smile a lot? Can you think of an easier way to contribute to the cause of peace? In fact, may your smile "go viral" today, and infect all those around you. In fact, while we're at it, why not create a smile epidemic? After all, there is no known cure!

May you know you are blessed today, and smile! :)

Posted by Carman

Kids

“What’s the matter with kids today?”

Remember that song? I’ve been thinking of it this morning as I’m pondering some congregational ‘challenges’ regarding some of our beloved offspring. Oh my. What a dilemma some of us have.

We long to have more kids in our midst. We pine for the days of the packed Sunday school and get all nostalgic over memories of past summer picnics, Christmas pageants, Easter children’s choirs. Then in the next breath we bemoan the behaviour of the children who are present among us.

Is it OK for the pastor’s kids to be playing in the gym while the rest of us are meeting in the sanctuary? Shouldn’t that two-year-old’s mother restrain him when he does his reptile act under the pews and through the feet of the worshipers? Must we listen to this little story selected without much theological attention during our “children's moment”? How can we be expected to remain reverent when the youthful reader stumbles over the words, clearly not having rehearsed or perhaps even looked at the scripture before. (Why I remember when we practised for months to memorize all this lines of the nativity story!)

Some of my thoughts; I hope they help.

Perhaps our remembrances of the past have a bit of a glow. We do tend to view our memories through rose-coloured glasses. And those were different times. There are things we really do not want to repeat. The whole “children who are seen and not heard” attitude might just have something to do with why a whole generation of kids are not now bringing their young’uns out to church. Parenting styles do change, have changed, must change, will change. We who are older can sometimes help best by holding our critical thoughts in check.

But some of us who are responsible for those precious toddlers-to-teens might also try to be aware of the needs of the rest of us. A little chat about how many of our dear elder-saints view the Lord’s house and what they’re thinking when they appear to be gritting their teeth could help to bring some peace to our worshiping community.

I revert to my “one rule fits all” advice here people: talk among yourselves about how you’ll be in community and remain friends. And that means talking to each other, rather than about each other. There needs to be some tolerance, lots of love and patience, and maybe some willingness to be a little uncomfortable for the sake of someone else. That someone might be eight, or eighty. It will require some awareness and it might involve bringing a situation to someone’s attention who just didn’t notice. Be sensitive, be caring and remember Jesus' admonition had two parts: “Feed my sheep; feed my lambs.”

Posted by Marion

Hope

In his newest book, A Door Set Open, Grounding Change in Mission and Hope, Peter Steinke notes that all congregations are facing challenges brought about by rapid change. Steinke seeks to apply family systems theory to churches in order to understand the forces that beset congregations, and to learn how to deal with them.

Steinke shares insights learned from consulting with more than 200 churches in eight denominations. In the introduction to the book, he lists fourteen responses he believes contribute to the challenge of change. The list is preceded by the comment that Steinke has found the first three to have been present in every case he has studied. Those three are quoted below. The first two of the three have intrigued and encouraged me; first one, then the second.

¨ Without mature and motivated leaders, little happens.
¨ Resistance to change is far less intense and protracted when change is made for the sake of
mission.
¨ How emotional processes are understood and handled plays a major role in outcomes.

The thing about change is that it isn’t easy. Even if the current results are poor, it seems easier to try harder doing what we have always done than it does to try some new approach. The problem is, if we keep doing what we have always done, we will get the same result. Or as you may have heard it said, “If we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll always get what we’ve always got!” Trying harder at doing these things is a formula for frustration leading to feelings of failure and guilt. There has to be a better way.

But there is hope to be found in the first three items in Steinke’s list. There is hope provided by mature and motivated leaders. Fortunately in CEM we have such people. I am encouraged that resistance to change is less when done for the sake of mission, because mission is what we are about. And finally, we can all be heartened that understanding how to deal with emotional issues helps solve problems we each face in our congregations. We need to learn that too.

I began reading A Door Set Open about a month ago, but life got busy and I have had trouble getting back to finish the book. There is much food for thought here, and clearly much to learn. I think it is time I got back to reading this book, and I think I had best start again from the beginning!

Posted by Carman

Paradox

“People profoundly want to be made new, to be clothed in Christ, to be born again. And they profoundly want to cling to everything old—the world, themselves.

We desperately and passionately desire two opposite and mutually exclusive things: to change and to stay the same.”

I like this quote from Sara Miles' book Jesus Freak. I haven't read it yet, but loved her first book Take this Bread.

I did read the quotation somewhere and found it so resonated that I wrote it down in my journal. I offer it to you dear readers for your contemplation. What do you think? Is it true for you, or not?

Posted by Marion

Better

You've heard it. You've probably said it; I know I have. "I wish I were better at..."

You name it. We wish we were better golfers, writers, time managers, bookkeepers, housekeepers, better with children, better at making new friends. Being involved in some planning sessions, identifying visions, missions, setting goals and objectives, we're all wishing we had some better church planters, outreach specialists, creative worship planners, visionaries, transformation specialists, and on and on.

Today I found this list that really contains nothing much new , despite the fact it comes out of Harvard! It's pretty simple; if you truly want to get better at something, you can do it. Any human being can, in fact, develop any given skill or capacity in the same systematic way you do a muscle, by "pushing past your comfort zone, and then rest." We tend to fall back on the old assumption that some of us are just naturally gifted with certain talents and abilities. But this author Tony Schwartz says that's really just a cop-out. It's that we don't work hard enough at it.

His advice does speak about a need for passion and prioritizing and focusing. And if those are problems for you, you can fix that too.

It's that time when we're starting to think about going back--to school, to church. Is there some area you've been wishing for better? Look into this concept and see how it works for you.

Here it is again: Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything, from the Harvard Business Review

Posted by Marion

Hope

Last Tuesday I was in two different churches; one in a small town, and one along side a country road. The town church was Durham Presbyterian, or DPC to use their current short form. The country church was Proton Community of Christ.

Despite their different locations, sizes and denominations, the two churches have much in common. Both have the accoutrements of a traditional church built in an earlier era, such as the gothic windows, the pews, and the raised dais. Both were built in an earlier day when we were not so concerned about such things as access for the handicapped, so both also have steps to deal with. But there was something else that both had in common. In their own way, both had made at least some accommodation to modernity.

On the rostrum of the church in Durham resides ample evidence of a church band. Drums, an electronic keyboard (now carefully covered), and lots of microphone stands were clearly in evidence. While no guitars were left on stage, it was pretty obvious where each guitar player would stand on Sunday morning. Clearly an effort is being made by the worship leaders of this church to match the musical style of choice for modern people under the age of 75. I was impressed!

The little white Proton church is picture postcard perfect. It stands beside a quiet road with its peaceful country cemetery, and a naïve city person might imagine that nothing has changed there in the last one hundred years. That person would be wrong. From the ceiling of this apparently old-fashioned church hangs a modern, digital projector, carefully aimed at the screen that hangs on the front wall. The computer age has arrived!

Somewhere, perhaps someone is reading this blog and sighing. To this imagined person, the presence of such modern tools in these lovely, traditional settings may seem out of place. For me, however, in both cases these symbols of modernity bring a sense of hope. By themselves, the presence of a praise band or the digital projection of lyrics and DVDs in worship will not guarantee the church’s survival. They are evidence, however, of the church’s willingness to try, to adapt, to present the gospel message in a new, fresh, and modern way.

Our grandparents had enough vision to install electric lights and indoor plumbing in their churches. Our parents added carpet, modernized the kitchens and added microphones to the pulpits and installed speakers on the walls. Now it is our turn to try to keep up with the opportunities before us. The gospel message may not change, but the methods we use to declare that message change constantly, and so they must!

What will the future hold? I confess I don’t have much idea; perhaps a holographic projection of the prophet/president speaking in congregations all around the world simultaneously. I am not the least bit concerned about that; it is not my job to be. It is my/our job to be concerned about how we can effectively share the love of Jesus with people who need to hear it in our day.

So good job, DPC and Proton CofC. For today, at least, you give me hope!

Posted by Carman

New

There is a saying that everything old is new again. That saying seems very appropriate today. We have a new Apostle, a new Apostolic Leadership Team, and a new Apostolic field. Let me review them one at a time.

We have known for some time that our Apostle, Mary Jacks Dynes, was retiring from her duties with us. Yesterday we learned who our new Apostle is and she is Susan Skoor. Interestingly, For Mike Hewitt and me, Susan was our Apostle when I was assigned to Southwest International (USA/Mexico) Mission Centre, and Mike was in Southern California. She is an old friend. While there will be a learning curve for her and for us, she is a familiar presence, and we look forward to working with her.

The Apostolic Leadership team is made up of the Apostle, the Field Missionary Coordinator/President of Seventy, and the Field Apostolic Assistant. This newly reconstituted team will now consist of Apostle Skoor, President of Seventy Kris Judd, and our own Bishop Jim Poirier. As a staff, we are very pleased. While this is a new team, Kris and Jim remain with us and we are delighted to be retaining them in their current roles. Consistency is often a very good thing.

Finally we have a new Apostolic field, since the former Canada/North Central USA alignment is no more. Instead, our new field consists of all of Canada and the Pacific Islands, including Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Fiji and Hawaii. What does that mean to the members and friends of Canada East Mission? Well…probably not very much. It has more to do with the Apostolic team than with our members, since most were probably not very aware of the old field anyway. Interestingly, it does mean that we are once again in the same field with our old friend Ken Barrows, which we can also celebrate.

So let us extend to Susan a hearty Canadian welcome. We look forward to working together as we walk both old and new paths together.

Posted by Carman

Music

There is something magical about music. Not only does it have the power to sooth the savage beast, but some believe it has the power to change the world. It certainly has the ability to change hearts and minds, and make the world better.

Last evening, I heard part of a radio documentary on the music and life of Elvis Presley. According to that broadcast, ‘the king’ often experienced periods of unhappiness, especially when faced with unfair criticism as all high profile people are. On such occasions he turned increasingly toward gospel music.

A member of his back-up band, the Jordanaires, talked about Presley’s recording of How Great Thou Art. He said that Elvis poured everything he had into that song, and at the end of it, he fell to one knee in the studio. His face was white with exertion, but there appeared a little smile on his face. He knew he had done something great musically and was once again at peace.

I could cite many examples of music creating change at both a personal and international level, but perhaps another day. Consider this my attempt at brevity.

Has music changed your world?

Posted by Carman