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CPI Pastors and Instructors, Fall 2011

Three years ago, a group of twelve pastors from seven congregations in Canada East Mission came together for the first time. The twelve were enrolled in CEM's pilot of the Co-missioned Pastor Initiative, or CPI for short. They met that first weekend at Crieff Hills, a retreat centre owned by the Presbyterian Church just East of Cambridge, ON. Also present as guest instructor was Apostle Mary Jacks Dynes along with program leaders Marion Smith and Doug Bolger, plus MCFO Mike Hewitt and (then) MCP Carman Thompson. It was the beginning of a remarkable journey.

Since that time, the group has met together on six additional occasions for a weekend study each spring and a week long session each fall. They have had opportunity to meet and learn from a wonderful group of instructors including Becky Savage of the 1st Presidency, Jim Poirier now of the Presiding Bishopric, (then) Dean of the Seminary Don Compier, Field Apostolic Assistant for Central and South America Mission Field Arthur Smith, Evangelist and Spiritual Director Marvin Rice and many more. Together they have studied theology, personal spiritual practice, Biblical exegesis, Congregational management and approaches to congregational mission just to name a few of their subjects. They have learned together, supported one another, and challenged each other to succeed.

This past weekend the group returned to Crieff Hills where it all began. This time their instructors were Apostle Susan Skoor and President of Seventy Kris Judd, along with Carman Thompson, now Field Apostolic Assistant to Susan Skoor. Also present were CEM president Tim Stanlick, MCFO Mike Hewitt, and program leaders Doug Bolger and Marion Smith. The topic was mission. It seemed a fitting lesson on which to graduate.

Then, all of a sudden it was over! The pilot program has been completed, and this group of twelve join four others in the CEM CPI alumni. The mission centre is blessed to have them, but where did that three years go?

The group learned a lot, of course, and we know they are better pastors and ministers as a result. The mission centre has also learned a lot, and will apply that learning to future endeavors already in the planning stage. You can expect to see and hear more information on that at some future time, but not now. Now is the time to savour this moment of accomplishment for our twelve graduates. They have worked hard. They have studied many books, and were sent away with another one tucked into their bulging cases. For the pastors, it is one more day in a lifetime of learning.

Congratulations CPI graduates. We are proud of you, and look forward to years of ministry that will be all the richer for this remarkable time together.

Posted by Carman

SACRED COMMUNITY GROUNDED IN SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

The following article by President David Schaal originally appeared on the Community of Christ Evangelist's blog, March 1, 2012. It is re-posted here with the generous permission of the author.

In recent years I’ve been paying attention to congregations that are engaged in outreach and invitation in a “sustained” way. “Sustained”, in this sense, refers to efforts that are perpetuated with energy and joy, rather than other efforts that seem to just wear themselves out after a year or so.

One of the common characteristics of congregations that sustain mission, appears to be that their engagement in mission is not motivated by some program emphasis that someone tried to import or muscle along. Instead, their engagement in mission grew out of sustained spiritual practice that ultimately birthed a stirring of the Spirit in someone’s soul who was willing to make themselves available as God nudged them into the community.

I’ve spent years of my life trying to motivate congregations into mission, and have watched as good people experienced success for a while, then either burned out or simply “let it go” after I was no longer there to support them. I’ve decided now that my time would have been much better spent if I had helped them learn how to build sacred community grounded in spiritual practice, with an eye on discerning God’s missional call.

In some ways, what I had been doing was a form of unintentional idolatry. Idolatry is taking anything and putting in the place where God rightfully belongs. In my case, I was exercising my own attempts at missional motivation, in places where I should have helped create space for God’s Spirit to breath. I didn’t mean to do that. I didn’t even know I was doing that. It’s just that promoting programs and trying to motivate people into them was the only model I knew—and it was all for good purposes. Nevertheless, there is a HUGE difference between people “agreeing” to engage in programs, as opposed to people responding faithfully to a mission born of the Spirit’s promptings.

I now think that congregations are best served if we can hold up missional vision, then help create environments wherein the Spirit can move, rather than simply pressing people to implement the latest resource or hottest idea. I’m not suggesting for a moment that programs are undesirable, or that we should simply wait around for God to direct us before we launch out in mission.

I’m simply suggesting that congregational mission is not just about pushing programs that we hope will work. Instead, congregational mission is about building a community of disciples who are grounded in spiritual practice, attempting to discern what God is doing in their community, and how they might be called to join God in those efforts.

Evangelists can be invaluable in this regard, as they help congregational leaders create sacred community wherein people are loved, disciples are grown, and efforts are made to discern how God is calling us.

by David D. Schaal, First Presidency
Community of Christ

Joy

Joy is a funny thing. Sometimes you don’t know you don’t have it until you notice it missing in your life.

I understand that the “Healing and Freeing of the Spirit Reunion” for this coming year is going to be quite focused around Joy! I am certain that this “Second Ziontario Reunion" will be a great blessing for everyone who attends! (Here's their facebook page)

Anne Koeslag and Barbara Smith are codirecting this important Reunion and these are things that I am seeing from them when talking about their Reunion:

We’re focusing on the “JOY”!

“Make a Joyful Noise”

Pack up your “inner child” and Come out and play!

Personally, I am going to try to find a couple of days to visit Healing and Freeing of the Spirit! I mean, who can’t do with a bit more Joy?

There was a day in the fall when I realized that there was an absence of Joy in my life. I had just locked my keys in the car and the skies had opened up. It was raining to beat the band.

With rain teeming down, and nowhere to go, I stood there and realized my predicament and then I saw our dog, Simon, in the backyard.

Simon was jumping and running and nipping at the steady flow of water that was coming down, he was having a great time! I learned a couple of very valuable lessons that day.

1. After a certain point you just can’t get any wetter.
2. You have to grasp the Joy and run with it no matter what the circumstances might be.

I went into the backyard and we, Simon and I, played fetch for a while. This was a very joyful time!



“And a little puppy shall lead them”?

Well, I don’t know about that but I do know that you have to grab onto these little life lessons when they present themselves... Even when they seem to come from the most unlikely of sources!

How has Joy presented itself to you lately? Go ahead and share! I “double dog dare” you!

John Nichols

Formation Week 3

When I was assigned to Southwest International (Mexico/USA) Mission Centre, I had several pastors who were part of the World Church pilot Co-Missioned Pastor Initiative. They were all busy people, so I was a little surprised at how eager they were to leave home and travel half way across the country to study. I learned, however, that studying was only part of the picture. These pastors were excited to be together. They had found in each other, peers with whom they could share common problems, issues and frustrations as well as joys, successes and testimonies. The cohort had become a powerful, spiritual support group.

This week the group of twelve pastors who make up Canada East Mission’s pilot CPI are meeting together for their third and last formation week. There will be one more weekend gathering in the spring, but this is their last week-long training session. I’m sure they are looking forward to a great week together.

This time around they will be blessed to have President Becky Savage of the First Presidency of Community of Christ and Jim Poirier from the Presiding Bishopric as guest instructors. Marion Smith will make a “guest” appearance as an instructor mid-week, and Doug Bolger will coordinate the week as well as teach. I will also try to make a contribution. In addition, Nelson Rosales from World Accord will join us for a session as will Paul McKenna from Scarboro Missions Interfaith Department. I anticipate a great experience together.

This fall, the emphasis is on some of the “nuts and bolts” a pastor needs to know and understand. Having already been instructed in such topics as scripture, theology and spiritual formation, now they will concentrate on some of the practical aspects of administrative leadership. The list of subjects is long, but some of the basic elements include forming and working in teams, conducting business meetings, and narrative or mission based budgeting.

Oh dear, I think I just heard someone groan! You may not think that list of topics very exciting, but when you think of who is teaching, it probably gets a whole lot more interesting. Who wouldn’t want to spend time learning from one of the presidents of the church? Further, I firmly believe Jim Poirier’s passion can make any of us excited about the budget as a tool of mission! It is wonderful to have instructors of this caliber available.

Still, the teaching is only part of the picture. This group will also join together in worship and fellowship (read fun). They will have time to talk together, to brainstorm ideas and share experiences. Because they are now in year three of this program, they will assemble with hearts already open to each other. They have learned to trust each other and to allow themselves to be vulnerable to both human and divine grace. It is a very good thing.

As we look to the future of the mission centre, we need to provide more opportunities for this kind of sharing and learning, not just for this group of pastors, but for all of us.

*(picture is from 2010 formation week 2 with Apostle Susan Skoor and Jane Gardner, President of the High Priests' Quorum)

Posted by Carman

Progression

In the blog post Action, I offered a few thoughts about a series of words that stand out to me in the early verses of what is now Doctrine and Covenants Section 163. This morning I would like to revisit that list. It seems to me there is much to be understood there; certainly far more than we will be able to explore here.

I find an interesting progression in that series of verbs. It seems to me the list begins with actions designed to aid or increase our understanding; words like discern, embrace, discover, become. Then a shift occurs, and we move to word that reflect more physical action. This part of the list includes verbs like go, come, receive, follow, share, and restore. As the list goes on, the verbs seem to ramp the action up a bit to somewhat more aggressive terms like create, strive, challenge, pursue, and be alert. Finally, we turn to words that seem to have more to do with preparing to go further or equipping others for their tasks. This part of the list includes terms like open, awaken, equip, and prepare.

It seems to me the progression in this sequence is reflective of the process we go through in almost any effort we undertake in life. First we need to learn more about the cause or task at hand. Having achieved at least a rudimentary level of understanding, we are able to begin doing some things. As we grow in confidence, knowledge and experience, we become more skilled with greater expertise and can pursue the goals more aggressively. Finally, we need to both go deeper and to recruit others to join the cause. We share our accumulated wisdom with them so they are better equipped to continue or expand the task.

Where are we are in this progression? Where am I? Where are our congregations? Thinking of the Mission of Jesus Christ as clarified by President Veazey through the Mission Initiatives, are we at the learning stage or are we ready for action? Perhaps you feel you have moved beyond the early stages to a more aggressive level or maybe you are at the point where you are recruiting and training others. Are we thinking about this? Are we preparing for action? I hope so.

As always, we would love for you to share your thoughts or responses to this subject.

Posted by Carman

Port Elgin

In Friday's blog, Marion has already alluded to the fact that this past weekend, the CEM staff was scattered to the four winds. Mike Hewitt was in Ottawa, Marion Smith went to GTA-West on Sunday after being in Port Elgin on Saturday, Susan Skoor offered ministry in Grand Valley, and I was in Port Elgin. I will share a brief report on events in Port Elgin, and perhaps we can catch up on some of the others another day.

The occasion was the gathering of the four congregations that make up the Mighty Waters Mission Advocacy group: Wiarton, Owen Sound, Port Elgin and Collingwood. The weekend began with Marion leading the group through the Discover Your Spiritual Type workshop. If you have never had a chance to work through this study, I highly recommend you do. The text is the book of the same title by Corinne Ware. I have participated more than once, and it is always very revealing. It is a pleasure to see congregation members begin to understand why different people react to various ideas and practices the way they do, and why they don’t “just all think like me.” The workshop, along with the wonderful food provided by Port Elgin’s members made for a very rewarding day.

Sunday’s activities began with the awarding of Port Elgin’s annual Peace Scholarship, given each year to a student from the local high school. The selection committee that reviews all the applications for the scholarship is made up of people from the community as well as representatives from the congregation. 2011 is the tenth year this scholarship has been awarded, and the committee reported having a very difficult time choosing between six fine applicants. Each of them would have been deserving of the scholarship due to their peace making efforts in their community and beyond. In the end, the scholarship went to a very deserving young lady who is definitely making a difference. We wish Emily every success in life, and look forward to hearing more of her efforts for peace.

The congregation then gathered for worship to celebrate Pentecost. I do not know if it was the stimulation caused by the awarding of the peace scholarship that made everyone so attentive, but as a speaker, I have seldom had a congregation as focused as this group was. Pentecost is a unique day in the Christian calendar, and in some ways, a difficult one to grasp deeply, yet this congregation remained sharp and attentive, even as the minute hand made its rapid way a little past noon. It was gratifying to see a group so interested in the story of the Holy Spirit’s movement. Of course the service was followed by a wonderful pot-luck lunch and lots more great fellowship.

Perhaps the most delightful surprise of the weekend for me, however, was meeting old friends and acquaintances, some of whom I had not seen for more than 40 years. Each brief reconnection was followed by an all too short visit to try to catch up on what had happened to each other in that interval. Not all the news was good, but the visits and reconnections were wonderful.

So another busy weekend has come and gone, this one spent in the charming community of Port Elgin. There is much more I could share, however I will summarize by saying that this was a wonderful weekend indeed.

Posted by Carman

Plans

As I begin to prepare this blog post, I have literally just hung up from a long conference call with members of the CEM Camping Commission. Five people, all of whom have busy careers and families gave up yet another evening to wrestle with difficult questions and problems so we can have high quality, safe camps and reunions this summer. I am profoundly grateful. I know that every one of them had other things they could have been doing. For example, none of them got to watch game seven of the Montreal – Boston series tonight, although I am sure some of them would have liked to. Nor did they get to do any of the other things they might have done.

Planning for camps is not easy. Putting good policies in place requires a lot of careful thought and much discussion in order to reach decisions. Who will talk to this person or that? Who will enquire how the boy scouts (for instance) handled that issue? Once we have decided, who will write this policy up and send it to the rest of us? It is a lot to ask of these busy people.

If that weren’t enough, this is also the group that is planning and leading the Skills and Leadership Weekend for all camp and reunion staff at Ziontario on June 17-19. They have done excellent work in preparation for this event in order to make our camps better and safer than ever before. They are recruiting top notch, professional instructors to teach such topics as Conflict Resolution, Group Facilitation, and Social Media Guidance. They are providing for lifeguard training as well as instruction on cooking for large groups. Camp Directors and Business Managers will be given clear guidance on the procedures CEM and the camping commission expect them to follow. Quality child care is being arranged so young adults can take advantage of this training without being held back. You can see why I am grateful; this is a lot of work!

If you are a director of a camp, reunion, or retreat in 2011, I hope you will be at this weekend. Further, I urge you to convince all your staff to take advantage of this training too; it is that important.

If you are already committed to being on staff at a camp this year, there is really no place else you should want to be. If you have any role at all in our camping, reunion or retreat program this summer, or even if you think you might like to be on staff at some future camp, I urge you to reserve the June 17-19, 2011 weekend for this event. Not only will you learn a lot, but you will be with great people, and you will have fun.

Even if you never attend a camp but offer ministry or leadership in a congregation, you will benefit from being at this weekend. The skills you will learn will help you anywhere.

Further more, the camping commission and the CEM staff think this training is so important that we have agreed to offer the Leadership and Skills weekend with no registration fee. You don’t see that in our camping program every day, so why not take advantage of it while you can? Watch for more information to follow soon.

See you on June 17th?

Posted by Carman

Ask

Does anyone remember a very old tv commercial that ended with a young woman saying in a very whiny voice? But Mother, I’d rather do it myself. I can’t even think what was been advertised, but I can hear that voice in my mind’s ear as plain as day.

It seems to me that many of us “would rather do it myself” plenty of times when we really, really ought to be letting someone else do “it.”

Sometimes it’s a matter of “if you want it done right, just do it yourself.” We don’t entirely trust that someone else has all the background on the situation, or maybe they lack experience to handle a tough job or maybe they don’t appear to have enough time to take on another task. Maybe we’re aware of something in their life that will make this task difficult or might add extra pressure we’ve decided they don’t need. So...we just “do it myself.”

I suspect, if we’re honest, sometimes we don’t ask because we aren’t sure how to ask. And how to ask can be very important. I’ve been giving some thought recently to how our mentors, advocates, coaches will be operating. We have got great people starting to line up willing and eager to help. We’ll even be suggesting, sometime soon, that one of the means of developing some very important skills is to make greater use of the mentors, advocates, coaches at the ready to help us. This will mean that some of us will need to Ask for help. And that may be the hardest thing!

Someone has said that the most important step to finding the answer is to find the right question. One of the critical questions becomes: can you help me?

But that’s just too vague. So here’s my advice for us today as we continue thinking about our very real (and sometimes desperate) need for help. Figure out what you are asking for. Figure out just what you want from this person you’ve approached for help.

What do you want to learn? Or what it is you’d like them to do? How long do you think it might take? What sort of commitment are you looking for? When do you want them to start, or finish? Is there some dead-line they need to know about? Have you got a specific project or time line to consider? What about expenses? How will you communicate? Do you need regular check-in times, progress reports, trial runs? Who else is involved? Is there any opportunity for doubling up or over-lapping? Can we accomplish more results with different effort? What other questions can you think of that might help us articulate more clearly what we’re asking for? This could be the hardest part.

One of the most important skills we—all of us—need to perfect, is the skill of the “ask.” We must learn how to ask for what we need. It’s how we’ll add to our own understanding; it’s how we’ll share the load; it’s how we’ll bring along the next generation of workers. We’ve got to stop “just doing it ourselves” when we should be delegating or educating or strengthening our communities.

As those prophets Jagger & Richards have told us: we may not always get what we want, but if we try, we may get some of what we need.

Trying may just include asking well.

Posted by Marion

Register

This morning I impulsively registered for a writing class. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been a formal participant in one of these classes, although I’ve been at least casually connected with my local writing teacher and writing friends for seven or eight years now. One would think I’d have lots more to show for it than I do; no books written yet, despite all the best intentions. (Maybe when I retire!)

Mostly I ventured into writing class to connect with a group of compatible folks who are not part of church and work. While I quite love you all (church and work friends) I felt a need for something outside the spheres where I spend so much of my time.

The first class I registered for was also something of an impulse. I saw an ad for a small group class on “Writing from your life.” Since I had plenty of “life” I expected I would at least have the necessary raw material. The price was right and the time commitment reasonable so I signed up.

It has been a great journey. Melinda, our instructor, is a trained psychologist who practises some wonderful, gentle therapy in this town. And to give herself a change of pace, she teaches writing classes. Groups vary from season to season but generally it’s the same dozen or fifteen people who keep coming back in various combinations of five or six at a time. I’ve been introduced to a number of genres, many of which I would never have tried but for these classes. Certainly I would never have written my “prize-winning” poem without their encouragement. Who knew?!

We do encourage each other’s efforts. Lots of positive feedback and the occasional suggestion have sent many of us into uncharted territory that has turned out to be just what we needed at a particular point in our life journeys.

I’d encourage anyone who wants to take a break from work and life, or who would like to meet some different folks from the ones you see every day, or to discover something about yourself you didn’t know before, to have a look at the classes being offered in your town. What’s going on at the library or the local school? Check out the bulletin boards in your grocery store or the health food store or the local craft outlet or the farmers’ market. I guarantee you’ll see someone is offering a class or a group and for not very much money, you can open whole new worlds.

What have you always thought you’d like to do but haven’t had a chance yet? Or have been too busy to take the time for? Or needed someone to impose the discipline to stick with it?

I’ll keep you posted on my writing classes that start on February 24. Let us know what you register for; I’m interested.

Posted by Marion

Doors

I recently had opportunity to watch Tim Burton’s 2010 adaptation of the Lewis Carroll classic, Alice in Wonderland. The book and film are absolutely full of wonderful metaphors for life. Watching this version, however, one scene particularly caught my attention. Alice has fallen down the rabbit hole and finds herself trapped in the Hall of Doors. There are doors of varying sizes and shapes, but all of them are locked. Alice can look through a keyhole and see the magical and mysterious world beyond; she just can’t get there. If she could only unlock those doors!

As I watched that scene, I remembered so many conversations with people over the years who felt there had to be a greater life beyond what they were currently experiencing. They knew it was there, they could imagine it and perhaps even see it, but the doors were locked and they just couldn’t reach it. How frustrating!

After working her way around the room and trying each door, Alice finda a key that mysteriously appears on a little table. Alice tries all the doors again, but the key does not unlock any of them. Then she pulls back a curtain and finds a tiny door she had not noticed before. The key does fit in this door and it opens, but now a new problem appears; Alice is too big to go through! This leads to the little bottle of shrinking medicine which makes her smaller, and the little cake which makes her bigger. After a lot of trying, Alice is able to get out through the little door into the world where she longs to be.

What is interesting about that scene is how much work Alice has to do to reach her goal. She tries hard, pulling on all the doors; all locked. She finds the key and tries them all again, still locked! She finds a new door she has not noticed before, and unlocks it, but is too big to fit through. She drinks the magic potion and as she shrinks, her clothes become suddenly too big for her (another metaphor) and she leaves most of them behind. At last, she is able to reach this strange new world where great adventures await.

How clever was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the mathematician and Anglican clergyman writing as Lewis Carroll! How like life his fantasy is! When we want to achieve our goals in the midst of unlikely scenarios, It takes hard work to find the right door and open it. We may even have to try new things, shrink egos, grow courage, and shed our fears and cultural limitations.

Alice in Wonderland was originally composed as a story for three young girls that Dodgson knew and loved. At this level, the story works well. Tim Burton re-envisions Alice as a young woman in her late teens with all kinds of pressures, and in this scenario, the story is pure magic. It makes me hope to be able to watch the film with each of my granddaughters when the time is right. Like all great art, however, the story has something to say to each of us. I highly recommend this film, available on DVD and in 3D if you choose. And by the way, for all you diehard fans, Johnny Depp is brilliant as the Hatter.

Posted by Carman

Plateauing

Dictionary Definition:
- verb (used without object)
5. To reach a state or level of little or no growth or decline, esp. to stop increasing or progressing; remain at a stable level of achievement; level off (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plateauing)

Chapter 1 of the book Church Planting Landmines is about personal health and growth for ministers. In 13 brief pages, it provides several pieces of excellent advice, however the following quote, which appears under the sub-heading entitled Plateauing, especially caught my attention.

“Plateauing occurs when a person in ministry stops learning and growing, and as a result they settle into a pattern of doing what once worked with very little effort to expand. There is no great vision for the future, and there are no great attempts to get there.” (Tom Nebel and Gary Rohrmayer, Church Planting Landmines, p.23)

Reading this statement has caused me to do a little personal “soul-searching,” and to face an uncomfortable truth. The truth is that, while the demands of my current job push me to keep learning and working hard in order to help the congregations in Canada East Mission, there is a part of me that would really rather relax a bit. Perhaps my sub-conscious mind has grown somewhat lazy. It reminds me regularly that I really didn’t plan to be working this hard at this stage of my life and career. That part of my brain is like the story Jesus told of the rich man whose investments had done well, and he said to himself, “I will store all my grain and my goods, And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.'” (Luke 12:16-20) You can trust me when I say my investments have not done all that well, but part of my brain would still like to take things a little easier and coast a little from time to time. That sounds dangerously like a plateau.

Plateauing is not the same as retiring. When we retire from our working careers, we get out of the way and let someone else take over the task of producing the results the job requires. Plateauing is different. If we plateau, we are still physically on the job, but we have simply stopped progressing. When we do that, we not only stop growing and learning ourselves, but we hold everyone else back around us.

The problem with plateauing is that it inevitably leads to decline. The body of knowledge is continuously increasing around us, and the world keeps turning. If we stop growing and learning, we soon become out of date on what tools and methods are effective now. We rely on old methods that used to work, but no longer do. Soon, we are falling behind; in other words, declining.

At an earlier stage in my career, I was a sales person for children’s books. Had I grown satisfied with the level of sales already attained and stopped trying to sell more books, I would not only have hurt myself but also held back the company I worked for. Worst of all, there would have been children who would not get the benefits of reading the books I had to offer. That would have been the real tragedy because my lack of effort would have deprived someone else of the joy of reading a great book. The same is so obviously true in ministry.

It is important to keep learning, growing and progressing in our life and work. As the servant of the congregational leaders in Canada East Mission, I offer my renewed pledge to guard against the temptation to plateau. At some point, I will need to retire or otherwise get out of the way so someone else can achieve the needed results. In the meantime, I will endeavor to continue learning new ideas and methods. I invite you to do the same.

Posted by Carman

MEGA

This past weekend, a group of about 30 (mostly) young adults and Seventy gathered at the Toronto West church campus for MEGA. The name MEGA is an acronym for the theme of the weekend, which was Make Everyday a Great Adventure. To avoid confusion about the above references to 30 and 70, perhaps I should explain that Seventy here refers to the priesthood title a group of missionary Elders in Community of Christ, based on Luke 10. There were four such persons in the group this weekend.)

The weekend had several purposes. One was to provide a forum for young adult leaders and potential leaders to come together. A second was for the Seventy to be together in a ministry situation, and a third was to begin to build community between these two groups.

Each of these groups has its own set of characteristics. Young adults are always bursting with energy and ideas, so being with them is always a lot of fun. Just being in their presence will inevitably lead to lots of smiles and laughter. The Seventy, on the other hand, tend to be natural story tellers. These folks have been on their own great adventure with God for many years, and have lots of stories to share. Given these characteristics, it is only logical that putting these two groups together should make for an interesting weekend. It did.

I think it is safe to say that this group found fun in everything they did. Together they played ping-pong, went bowling, and took in a Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre, which several still insisted on calling Skydome. Attending the ball game was made even more fun because the Blue Jays actually won! The group also found great pleasure in assembling 150 lunches for the benefit of homeless people in Toronto, and in sharing food together themselves.

On three occasions during the weekend, the group sat around together to share stories. While the Seventy led in this, not all the stories came from them. Several young adults shared their own stories of life; some of which were happy and some of which were not. This sharing of stories led us to amazing moments of seriousness and sacrament, as several people asked for the blessing of laying on of hands for healing in their own life needs; some shared and some not.

Finally, on Sunday morning, the group met together with the host congregation to lead in an outdoor worship service. This too proved to be an adventure (competing with a neighbour’s lawnmower) and a blessing as music and still more stories were shared, followed by a bar-b-que with the congregation.

Should you happen to look up mega in the dictionary, it would tell you that this word is a prefix used to indicate something “large or great.” I suspect the impact of this gathering will be both large and great in the lives of those who participated. It was good to gather, good to have fun, and good to share stories together. We have agreed that this must not be a one-time event, but needs to happen regularly. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, as you go about your day, let me urge you to remember what MEGA stands for, and enjoy your own great adventure today.

Conversation

Yesterday I talked about our need to develop our collective imaginations if we’re going to be successful in meeting our goals--in fact, if we’re going to be successful in even creating our goals. Maybe it’s an area to think about building our skill.

We’re part of a culture that believes in and values education. From its beginnings the church established schools, including real intensive education of priesthood and leaders. We look at our history and note with pride such things as School of the Prophets, School of the Restoration, Temple School. We take tours of Kirtland Temple and point out the classrooms.

But I propose that we need to shift the attitude we moderns have about training, education and development. Too many of the requests that come to me as a Development Focus Minister (one of the hats I wear) are for me or some other knowledgeable person to come and talk. The assumption is that we’ll come and preach or lecture or give some information not known before. And the expectation is that the person who comes will have answers to whatever questions might be asked. In fact, the expectation might even be that they will also know what the questions are, because folks in the “audience” don’t want to ask them!

You may be getting tired of the word dialogue. But this is the way of the future. It’s the way we’re operating right now. For example, Mike Hewitt, CEM’s CFO and Bishop, is in the midst of a three-week long conversation in the Guelph congregation about Enduring Principles, Basic Beliefs, Counsel to the Church. All are welcome; Sunday nights from 7 o’clock to whenever. Two more sessions are announced for January 31 and February 7. What they’ll be doing is having a conversation about those things, and other items that come up. Folks who come along will be expected to participate, to ask questions and offer ideas. They don’t have to bring answers; they do need to bring a willingness to engage in the conversation.

Delegates to World Conference have already received notice that there will be lots more non-legislative dialogue sessions at the 2010 conference. We’re lucky in CEM to have had some practice with this at our Mission Conferences and cluster gatherings. But we still need to build up our dialogue skills. You can do this be being intentional and aware as you talk about things together in your congregation and in your small groups.

I’d be happy to report other places this kind of conversation practice is going on; I know it is. Let us hear from you.