Will You Pray For Me?

About a week ago, I posted a blog entitled Peace about the experience of Evangelist Lu Mountenay of Independence MO.  I did not know at that time that her post would have a sequel.  It is remarkably touching and very worth reading.  It is amazing what can happen when we are deeply prayerful and really open to the leading of God's Spirit.

I invite you to click on the following link and read of Lu's continuing adventure with God's children in Was Poverty Their Crime?.

I know that some of you had similarly remarkable experiences as you have followed the Spirit who led you into unfamiliar places.  Would you be willing to share at least one of those with the rest of us?  If so, please click on the comments button and share those special moments, or if you would prefer, send me an email at carman@communityofchrist.ca.  I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Posted by Carman

Volleyball

Every second Friday Night, from congregations around the Mission Centre (well at least those within a reasonable drive of London) parents pack up their Junior and Senior High aged youth and travel to our Woodfield Congregation .

I mean, there is no getting out of going to Woodfield on those Friday evenings! The facebook group has been chatting, the text messages have been flying from smart phone to smart phone, emails have been sent and every, absolutely every Jr and Sr High aged youth knows that this event is happening. These youth are also inviting their “non Community of Christ” friends and relatives to come along! These are exciting times for our youth (and for parents who sneak off to Costco too!)!

Brian Jackson, Michelle and Dariq, who make up this small, yet vital, group of enthusiastic volunteers, shepherd this rag tag group and make sure that everyone has an opportunity to participate as they would like. Top off the evening with a nice lunch and fellowship time and the youth head back home with their parents.

The Woodfield Congregation, and this group of stalwart volunteers, are providing a way to inject real “Community” into “Community of Christ”. They are also providing opportunity for meeting the Mission Initiatives, “Invite People to Christ” and “Develop Disciples to Serve!

These Friday nights have not only been beneficial to our current Jr and Sr High camping community but has drawn in the, er, well, “more seasoned” camping community as well. Remember those parents I just mentioned who are “doing dinner” or “sneaking off to Costco? Well most, if not all of these folks are graduates of the “Camping Community of Yore”! This evening of volleyball has become a time when generations of people, not only the youth, but also many adults, are connecting, reconnecting and working on those friendships and fraternal relationships that our camping community seems to so readily create.

I have also known of an administration or two to take place in the Costco parking lot! Real, life changing, tires hitting the pavement, ministry is happening, but don’t tell the youth!

The young participants are there and having a blast! Some of the young adults help out in the kitchen, getting the snacks together and working to make sure that things keep running along. Everyone, and that means everyone from every extended generation, is building community IN Christ while doing things they enjoy. So next time you see the youth buzzing over their phones at church, get ready to head on over to London!

Hey! Send me a text! While Brian and his team are working to establish and build on those vitally important relationships, maybe we can “do dinner”!

(Here's the facebook page with all the details you need.)

Poster is John Nichols

Toolbox

This posting is from John Nichols. John wears many hats, one of them being that of a reliable source of book information. John's on the lookout for resources you can use. He'll offer his rating and whatever initial thoughts he has about how to get the most out of the books he's suggesting.

"Toolbox for Mission"

Hi folks! I have been seeking out books with lots of interesting ideas to help all of us gear up for Mission! Looking specifically for some “how to” guides for helping us “Develop Disciples to Serve.”

I’ve just completed four different books that could help with that Mission Initiative.

I do have to say, prior to starting the reviews, that buying books is great! Reading books is wonderful! Applying what you learn from the books is essential! And, without further ado, here are some of the books that I am currently recommending!

#1/ Fresh Ideas for Women’s Ministry; Creative Plans and Programs that Really Work!
Author, Diana Davis. ISBN978-0-8054-4723-1

My wife pointed me to this book as a potential good resource, likely also very saleable on a Reunion Book Table. Cringing a little, I plunged into it anyway. My verdict: This resource would be valuable for men AND women alike.

Written for other “mainline” churches, its ideas are easily adaptable to a Community of Christ context. Ms Davis takes you on a step by step process for developing a Women’s Ministry and would be an excellent resource for congregations, camps, retreats.

AND, guys, with a few adaptations and different ideas it could easily be used for “Men’s Retreats” or a Men’s Group, as well. If you are looking at developing ministries of these kinds, I would heartily suggest you pick up this book!

#2/How To Mobilize Church Volunteers
Author: Marlene Wilson. ISBN 978-0-8066-2012-1

This book was, again, written more for the “mainline protestant group” but with a few slight adaptations it is really good for the Community of Christ! Ms Wilson takes you on a step by step journey from assessing the needs, recruiting the volunteers, building the congregational team, training the volunteers, all the way to nurturing and managing the volunteers. Do you need to build a team for specific things in your congregation? How about for your Reunion, camp or retreat? This step by step guide is really useful!

This resource could be easily adapted into a workshop and for helping to prevent “burn out.”
My rating: 4.75 out of 5.

More tomorrow.

Posted by John Nichols

The Merrie Bande

Somewhere along the line, our fine group of Bishops in CEM got dubbed the Merrie Bande, or more properly, the Merrie Bande of Bishops. The title is appropriate. From time to time, they have also laughingly been referred to as “the pointy hat people”. Further, since two of their members began their spiritual journey in the Catholic church before migrating to Community of Christ, they are sometimes referred to as the “former Catholic Bishops.” As you can see, this group knows how to have fun when they are together.

Some people have a stereotypical image of Bishops as this group of staid, boring, bean counters, but when our group comes together, you see a very different picture. What you see is a group of ministers with a heart for helping people. Each has their own specialty, or in other words, each has different gifts. One has specialized in oblation assistance. Another is an expert at financial records. One or more has a passion for Good $ense ministry, and so on. They are a wonderful asset to our mission centre, and a great resource to our people.

Today (Wednesday) the Merrie Bande comes together to discuss another aspect of their role in our collective mission. Together we will discuss the Mission Initiatives President Veazey recently opened to the church, and how the Bishops can help the church be about the task. We will discuss how to use some new tools the church has provided, and ways of sharing those with you, the church.

I am looking forward to this day, not because the Merrie Bande will laugh together although they will. I am excited because this wonderful group of people with a heart for ministry and a specialized calling will get new tools with which to minister. What a wonderful thing to anticipate. Its going to be a beautiful day.

Posted by Carman

Identity

I sometimes think identity is almost a casualty of postmodern life. As old truths and social constructs fade and lose their luster in the face of new questions and viewpoints, perhaps it is natural for humans to feel less confident about who we are and what our purpose is. In truth, however, what is going on is probably less a loss of identity than a shifting of self-understanding. The difference matters a great deal.

To illustrate this point, we can probably look at almost any social grouping and see how its sense of identity has changed over the last 50 years. If we look at the family for example, mothers, fathers, children, teens, young adults, grandparents, great-grandparents all see themselves quite differently than did their counterparts in 1961. Life has changed, and with it, our sense of who we are and our role within our very own nuclear families. Just because those understandings are different, however, does not mean they are any less significant; in fact quite the opposite may be true. For instance, Mother’s role (or Grandma’s for that matter) may have shifted from cookie baker to bread winner, but her role within the family is certainly no less important.

Like all aspects of life, our faith communities are also undergoing changes in identity. In my childhood, claims of “exclusive truth” were common; we were right and you were wrong! The self-scrutiny that followed those years was often highly uncomfortable, sometimes painful and even embarrassing to some. Slowly but surely, however, we are coming to see ourselves and our religious identity differently. Arguments concerning how the Pentecostals or the Presbyterians are wrong have stopped. We are learning to value not only the contribution of other Christians but the spiritual nourishment all world religions bring to the inter-faith banquet. Instead of having our own, exclusive little table and eating by ourselves, we now bring our spiritual food to share with the larger, world community and invite others to do the same. What we must realize is that we do have some healthy, wonderful, and delicious food to share.

From a church that eats alone to a church that invites all to come a great inter-religious banquet; what a wonderful shift in our identity that would be!

This blog dedicated to Encounter World Religions, and to the pioneering work of J.W. Windland.
Posted by Carman

Priesthood Calls

Last Sunday I had the responsibility and privilege of presenting four priesthood calls to the Faubert Drive congregation in Chatham; three Elders and one Deacon. This is actually the latest step in a process which began more than a year ago, and is still not quite complete. Let me begin at the beginning.

In early 2009, I visited this congregation and became aware that the Faubert Drive church had a very effective pastorate with one somewhat unusual feature; all three pastors were Priests. Further, it appeared that there was a shortage of Elders in the congregation, although clearly not a shortage of candidates for this office.

For the benefit of readers who may not be familiar with Community of Christ operating method, there is nothing at all wrong with having three Priests as pastors, but it is more common for pastors to be Elders. While it is fine for pastors to be Priests, there are benefits to the congregation to have Elders available. For example, if there are persons who are sick and request the sacrament of Laying on of Hands for healing, it takes an Elder to do that since a Priest does not have that authorization.

Normally it is the pastor’s responsibility to discern a call to priesthood, and to initiate the process which can bring the candidate to ordination, and that is the procedure that was followed with the young lady who will soon be ordained a Deacon. When the candidate is the pastor her/himself, however, that procedure does not apply. In such a case, it is the duty of the next administrative officer to prayerfully discern, process, and present that call. Such was the case in Faubert Drive, and so that task fell to me as mission president. Now, more than a year since that process began, the candidates have each made a decision to accept the call, taken the required training courses, and are ready for ordination at a time that will work for them, their families, and the congregation.

The ordination of these fine ministers will make the congregation stronger and equip these leaders for further ministry in their community. We celebrate their willingness to recognize the movement of God’s Spirit in their lives, and to faithfully respond. May their efforts always be blessed by the Presence of the Good Spirit, and may they always minister in the Spirit of Love and Peace.

Posted by Carman

Celebration

This Saturday, October 16, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. Canada East Mission will meet together in conference. The location is Trinity United Church, 400 Stevenson St. N. in Guelph. Many pieces of information will be presented, including the planning for a Canadian National Conference in June of 2012. We will discuss progress made in the twelve months since the goals of 2020 Vision were announced, and of course we will be asked to approved the budget for 2011. Our new Apostle, Susan Skoor, will have opportunity to address the conference and begin to get to know us, or at least to get an introduction.

As important as all these things are, they pale in comparison to the celebration we anticipate later in the day. After lunch the conference will be presented with the calls of nine persons to senior priesthood ministry; six High Priests, two Evangelists, and one Bishop. Approving those calls will be the last item on the conference agenda. By 3:00 p.m., we anticipate that this process will be completed and we will then move into an ordination service.

Imagine the impact these nine people can have on the mission centre and on our congregations! High Priests are called to be ministers of vision, and if ever we needed vision in our congregations, now is the time. Evangelists have a very special calling as ministers of blessing, and we simply cannot have too much blessing. Bishops are called to be ministers of generosity, and our bishops have proven to be more than generous with their time, talent and treasure as they have made wonderful contributions to our cause over the past several years. Is it any wonder then that we look forward to this event with such joy and anticipation?

Following the service, we will move to the church gym where we will enjoy some light refreshments and visit with those who have been newly ordained. We hope you will be there to greet them and to part of the celebration as we take another step into our emerging future with God.

It will be a great day. Why not come be part of it?

Posted by Carman

Vagabonds

I recently came across a somewhat surprising court battle being waged in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in the United States. The case involves a struggle between the City of Orlando Florida and the First Vagabonds Church of God, along with other groups who advocate for the homeless. First Vagabonds Church was the brainchild of Pastor Brian Nichols, who was himself homeless for a time as a result of a back injury. His prayers led him to found a ministry for the homeless, and to feed the hungry. Pastor Brian passed away last year in 2009, but his work is being carried on by others.

You can learn more about Pastor Brian and the work he started by clicking on or pasting the following URL into your browser. http://www.myspace.com/firstvagabondschurch

First Vagabonds Church of God conducts open air worship services in city parks, and also feeds the homeless there. In 2006, the city of Orlando apparently passed an ordinance that limits group public feeding in city parks to twice per year in any one area. The law was challenged immediately, and has been see-sawing through the courts ever since.

Perhaps the most interesting comment I have read on this story came from Mark L. Vincent, a well known Mennonite author and stewardship advocate. In the September 30 issue of Depth Perception, Vincent questions whether both the city and the church’s attorneys have missed the point. The following is a brief quote from his article.

Feeding hungry people is not a "symbolic expression," but an essential action.
The devout followers of all this world's great religions fill their lives with
service to the poor--not as a symbol that they are religious, but as a
demonstration that they are humble, grateful for what they received, and aware
of the plight of the destitute. They simply cannot not do it.

Vincent’s comments remind us of Jesus prediction in Matthew 25;

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are
blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave
me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you
visited me.'

Mark Vincent believes that where we serve the homeless is not the issue, but instead that serving the poor is among the highest priorities of ministry and as such is not optional. Do you agree?

Posted by Carman

You

You are the light of the world.

You!

Did you get that?

YOU are the Light of the World!

Not someone else; YOU! Jesus said so in the Sermon on the Mount. (You can look it up. See Matthew 5: 14).

So…you are the light of the world.

What does light do? It gives light! That’s all. Simple, right? It just gives light. It is what it is and it does what it does. It gives away what it is, and it is not diminished by the giving. It does not ask, “How much will it cost me to give this light?” It does not grumble “I have already given away light today, or this week, or this year, or 40 years ago.” It does not complain if it is turned on at 3:00 in the morning. It just gives light.

And yet the effect that light produces in people who behold it is really quite startling. People who walk in the dark of unknown paths somehow gain a sense of hope, assurance, safety, peace, security, trust, confidence, faith, encouragement, and even joy in the presence of that light. The light just did what it does, but the people who saw it experienced blessings. It is a wonderful metaphor for people who know themselves to be vessels of God’s light and love in the world.

So, you who are the light of the world, how is the light business? Are you shedding light for others to walk in? Wonderful, isn’t it? What a privilege to be called to be the light of the world!

“You are the light of the world.
A city built on a hill cannot be hid.
No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on
the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

Posted by Carman

Calls

Last Friday in CEM, we released information about nine calls to senior priesthood ministry. That feels like and is a very significant development. It is even possible you might have heard about it or even read it in the bulletin at church last Sunday morning.

The announcement included calls for one Bishop, two Evangelists, and six High Priests. A list like that does not happen every day. I believe these calls will be a blessing to Community of Christ and to Canada East Mission for years to come.

Calls to Priesthood often seem shrouded in mystery and endowed with a sense of mystique. In a sense what is happening is a recognition by others that something important is happening in that person’s life and relationship with God. They have grown, and will continue to grow into a new area of ministry and service.

This understanding of calls to priesthood is not to deny the mystical element of searching out God’s call in a person’s life. That element is always present, and not just for priesthood. The quest for relationship with the Divine is so much a part of human experience that it is tempting to say, “That is what life is all about!” And perhaps it is.

We truly celebrate the lives of these nine outstanding ministers and their acceptance of the call of God in their lives. At the same time, I am mindful of the modern day scriptures that say, “All are called according to the gifts of God unto them.” (D. & C. 119:8b and 156:9b)

All are called.

All.

The Divine Presence reaches from within each of us and calls us to a closer relationship. For those of us who spend our lives seeking that closer walk, we can only respond, “Thank God!”

May you be blessed with awareness in your walk with the Divine Presence today.

Posted by Carman

Prepare

The past couple of weeks have been full of impressions and news from World Conference from both of your CEM Bloggers. We really appreciate the comments and conversations that have followed. It's pretty evident that many of you are feeling called and motivated to be about the business of "what matters most."

I'm happy to report that it's much more than good feeling that is sweeping across our Mission, but also a very real willingness to prepare to offer ministry in response to those promptings.

As I'm writing this there are seventeen or eighteen ministers preparing themselves to offer marriage ministry. Russ and Mary Pirie have been helping to make the wedding day, and more importantly, the marriage preparation experience as positive as possible for many years. We are so fortunate that they have made their own personal professional preparation available to our ministers who will be called to this important sacramental work.

Next week all the volunteers who will staff this summer's camps, reunions and retreats will gather with our newly formed Camping Commissioners at Stratford for Camp Staff Training Day. This day is just one important point on a long journey of preparation to ensure CEM children, youth and adults have an amazing camping experience. Much preparation has already happened; much more is yet to take place. Saturday, May 1 is a great opportunity to share ideas, to network and to magnify the individual preparation of each one by pulling together.

If you're going to be part of the staff for any of those events, please make it an urgent matter to join us as we all prepare together!

Posted by Marion

Greatness

This writing came about on one of those days when I start work very early at home, which sometimes results in my driving to the office very late. This time, however, this imbalance produced a joyous blessing. The radio broadcast I might normally listen to was long gone, and instead, I was surprised to hear Beethoven’s Piano Concerto # 5, The Emperor Concerto. With my car’s poor little radio pumped to the max, I could just see the great man conducting the orchestra, his hair flying wildly and his arms swinging with energy! I could see him scowling, demanding the absolute best from his musicians; probably more than they knew they had to give. The result is nothing short of magnificent!

Now I confess that I am not a great, knowledgeable fan of Classical music, and yet I find something wonderfully inspiring in Beethoven. It seems to me that he has heard the very music of creation itself, and poured his entire being into expressing it. In this I believe he has given us everything he has. I do not know if it was his growing deafness that produced such urgency in him, or if his passion simply demanded free reign. In any event, the resulting greatness is such that I do not have adequate superlatives to express my awe.

There is something very compelling about such a quest to be the absolute best one can be, and to deliver every note in the most expressive possible way. It produced such sheer brilliant greatness that beside it, my dreams feel tarnished and unworthy. To express my dreams in the same space as praise for Beethoven’s genius feels inappropriate and laughable. And yet, they are my dreams and they are the best I have to give. Here goes.

I want us to build great churches for God. Oh not the bricks and mortar sort, but the kind that inspires people to bless others and transform difficult lives. I want us to build churches that feed the hungry and clothe the naked, that visit the lonely and comfort the hurting. I want us to build churches that throw open doors instead of locking them so people can come in and be warmed and fed. I want us to build churches that understand what it really means to share the Peace of Jesus Christ in ways and dimensions that we haven’t even thought of yet. I want us to do that because we want to give the very best and the very most we have to God, and to God’s people.

I want us to build great churches, not merely good ones. It is not so much about size, endowment funds or sustainable balance sheets. It is about transformed lives and people whose existence has been blessed because the church was there for them at exactly their point of need. It is also about planning and preparing for so great a cause.

May God inspire us to see and build that kind of churches. May we open our lives to truly receive our own unique vision and calling to that level of greatness. Amen!

Posted by Carman

Model

Goal 4: The Healthy Congregation Model Effectively Deployed in Every Congregation

As a former pastor, I am quite familiar with the experience of not being able to see the congregational forest for the trees. Leading a congregation is a busy task, and it is easy to get so involved in the day-to-day issues and challenges that you can no longer clearly see the big picture. The metaphor that comes to mind is the saying that, “When you are up to your ears in alligators, it is hard to remember that you really came in here to drain the swamp!” A proliferation of alligators is not conducive to effective swamp draining or pastoring.

Add to this the fact that our pastors and leadership teams are all bi-vocational volunteers, and it is easy to see why a clear, simple model of operation is important. Among other benefits, it helps us remember exactly what we have to offer the world, and what our focus needs to be.

Community of Christ has been working with the Healthy Congregation Model for at least five years, but many people are still not familiar with it. The graphic at the top of this page may help us understand it.

A very quick explanation is that the Community of Christ is built from the bottom up on God’s Generous Grace, the Christian Tradition, and on Community of Christ Tradition. It is the Witness of Jesus Christ and the Building of Community that provides structure and supports Peace, Reconciliation, and Healing of the Spirit; the ministry the church offers the larger community. The diagram further says there are three types of ministry we engage in: Witnessing/Inviting, Gathering, and Sending/Serving. A healthy congregation will have a balance of all three. The model says that is what we do, and that is all we do.

This does not mean that every congregation will be the same. Every congregation will respond to God’s Generous Grace in a slightly different manner. They will live out the mission to which they are called according to God’s gifts to them and the leading of God’s Spirit in their midst. Each congregation will respond to the needs of the larger community in which they find themselves, and in that way, bring the Peace of Jesus Christ to those they meet. The fact that people need that peace is the very reason we need this goal.

Some days it feels to me that having the model effectively deployed in every one of our CEM congregations is an impossible task. “What was I thinking?” I ask myself. When I think that way, I realize I have gotten too close to the alligators again. I need to step back and look for ways we can do this. That is what we need to do, one congregation at a time.

LEGO

Etched into my mind is the very recent image of one of my grand-daughters on Boxing Day, her brow furrowed in concentration as she worked around the table with her cousins, each one feverishly attempting to build something using her or his new Lego set. It is, for me, a wonderful moment.

Call this a post-Christmas reflection on Lego; the little multi-coloured, interlocking building blocks so popular with children everywhere. You know the ones, the little blocks with the bumps on top that fit into a groove on the bottom of the next one. No matter the colour or the size, each bump fits perfectly into the groove of the next one in the hands of the child. It all reminds me of Dr. Larry Dossey saying that each of us has a God shaped hole in our lives that only God can fill. I find it an effective simile.

When our children first discovered Lego, the systems were pretty simple. There were blocks with eight bumps, six bumps, and four bumps, and there were different colours, but the system was pretty basic. Then one day, more creative minds at the Lego Group in Denmark got the idea of designing the pieces differently. Instead of building simple little walls, and houses, children would be able to build spaceships and castles! Suddenly the limits were removed and children could use the Lego system to build whatever their imaginations could conceive! Yet, despite all the advances, the little bumps still fit perfectly into the little grooves, just the way they always had.

Somehow all of this seems to me to be so much like the church. It used to be that each congregation looked pretty much the same. They were like basic building blocks; each doing the same things in much the same way. Now, however, more creative minds find new ways to express the gospel message, and congregations are beginning to do things differently. They find new ways to reach out to others, design 21st century entry points for people to come into fellowship, and think of inventive ways to serve their communities. Still, underneath it all is the same basic principle of the gospel: God is love and wants to fit into our lives. And people, despite all our modern or post-modern sophistication, still have the same God-shaped hole that was designed to be filled by the same loving God.

I do not know what form church will take in the future, any more than I know what the creative minds of children will build using Lego, but the possibilities are endless, only limited by our own imagination. It is as if God has provided the building blocks with the bumps and grooves of our lives, and invites us to come and play. What a wonderful, creative inventor!

So…what would you like to build?

Sacaba

Sacaba is the name of a village in Bolivia where a most remarkable venture is happening. In this town, a group of young Bolivian women from the local congregation of Community of Christ run the Light of Day Bakery. This little group of women gets up every morning and gathers at 4:00 a.m. They have prayer together, and then begin to bake bread. They do it day after day, providing wholesome and safe bread for the people of the village where they live, at reasonable and affordable prices. The amazing thing about this, however, is not how early they get up, or how hard they work, but the fact that they do this without pay! Their compensation is a few pieces of bread with which to feed their own families.

Why would they work so hard without pay? How can this little group be so dedicated? What motivates them to this service? The answer lies in their desire to serve their neighbours and share the light they have found. That is amazing dedication! Would I do the same? It seems unlikely, and I am truly humbled!

But the dreams of this little group do not stop there. They have their eyes fixed on other projects of service for their community. Noting that their region can grow a lot of vegetables, even though many people are not used to eating vegetables, they dream of starting a project related to nutrition, so people will be healthy and have better lives. Talk about sending/serving ministry! This is wonderful, extraordinary generosity! May Heaven bless these women, and return to them the love they give.



You can learn more about this project by watching the following video. Simply click on the link below, and then on the link for the appropriate bandwidth.

http://www.cofchrist.org/broadcast/default.asp#news

MISSION

A few years ago, a research company conducted a survey of a large number of churches in United States. They asked church members what they thought the purpose of the church was. The results of the survey were very interesting. 89% of members said that the purpose of the church was to look after the needs of members and their families. The remaining 11% of those polled thought the church’s purpose was to reach out to people where were outside the church family and not church members.

The same research company also polled the pastors of these same churches. Interestingly, exactly 89% of the pastors replied that the purpose of the church was to reach out to those who were not members of the church, and only 11% thought the purpose was to look after members and their families. The two groups were exactly opposite!

In a way, this survey demonstrates the difference between maintenance and mission. Maintenance is about me and my family. Mission is about those whose lives would be so greatly enriched by knowing there is a God who cares about them passionately.

The recent revelation to the church we now call Section 163 has much to say to us on this matter. In fact, one might think it should really settle the debate once and for ever.

“Generously share the invitation, ministries, and sacraments through which people can encounter the Living Christ who heals and reconciles through redemptive relationships in sacred community. The restoring of person to healthy or righteous relationships with God, others, themselves, and the earth is at the heart of the purpose of your journey as a people of faith.” D. & C. 163:2b

In Canada East Mission, we believe we are called to move from maintenance to mission. The call is the mission of the Christ. It is the mission of the church. It is our mission.

Do you hear the call? Are you ready?

Maintenance

Definition: Care or upkeep, as of machinery or property: With proper maintenance, the car will last for many years.

Maintenance is the work required to keep things from falling apart. It is always done in an effort to retain the status quo. Maintenance is necessary, of course, but it takes a lot of time and work.

The problem with maintenance is that, if we aren’t careful, it can consume all our available time and effort. In church, we can become so consumed with keeping the church running that we hardly have time to reach out and invite the people the church was intended to serve. When that happens, the church becomes about us, not about inviting or serving others. This is a big problem, since that is not what the church is called to do.

If we are already in maintenance mode, the challenge is to move from maintenance to mission. Stay tuned; more in the next post!

VISION

There are 24 women and men in Canada East Mission who, by virtue of their calling to the High Priesthood, are charged with being “Ministers of Vision.” (This number does not include the eight Bishops and twenty-three Evangelists who have more specific roles as Ministers of Generosity and Ministers of Blessing.) For the twenty-four, what a daunting task! How does one really go about that?

The twenty-four persons in question are people who are highly regarded in the mission centre because of their maturity, experience and wisdom. Often, people look up to them as role models, which may well make them a little uncomfortable.

But the term “Minister of Vision” suggests something more than their stature in the community. It suggests the ability to see or anticipate that which could come to be; that which is possible, or that which might be achieved with an appropriate and concerted effort.

The key is their ability to see, not their ability to create a vision. For example, if the President of the Church articulates a goal for the church, it is the job of the High Priesthood to grasp its possibilities, and then help others to see, understand, and respond to the call. In this way, we have one vision being upheld by multiple people, not 24 different visions being articulated.

At the recent Canada East Mission conference, the leadership team outlined a fresh approach to what we have always been called to do. We are now calling on the twenty-four Ministers of Vision, inviting them to see the possibilities, articulate those goals, and help the church respond.

Together

It appears we're a people who really, really enjoy coming together. We've been finding ways to get together a lot. Recently we've gathered at the Retirees' Retreat (I was there!). Youth and young adults gathered at their annual Thanksgiving retreat. Another small group had a few days of silent retreat in each other's company.

Within recent weeks we've had a men's retreat at McGowan's Lake and a women's retreat at Ziontario. And it's not long since Family and Friends met at Erie Beach. Many of us couldn't get through a summer season without a reunion or a camp experience, be it kids camp or junior or senior high; and others teamed up with Canada West youth for a bus trip to SPEC and IYF.

Now here's my thought on all this togetherness. Why do we do that? Is it because we just love each other's company? Or does the coming together help us do what we need to do between gatherings?

Glenn McDonald in The Disciple Making Church suggests that every disciple needs an Antioch--the place we return to, to regain our strenth. But we also need a Macedonia--the place we're called to go and bring ministry. True disciples, says McDonald, need both.

Go back from time to time to your Antioch, but pay attention to the call to Macedonia. Now that we've all be strengthened and nurtured by coming together, it's time to listen for the call to do ministry in the community. Let's think a minute about where we're being called.