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\mō-'zā-ik\
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6/12/2016

World Conference 2016 in Review...by Parker Johnson

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World Conference is a time for us to come together as an international community to discuss important issues facing our faith tradition and our world today. Each geographic area of Community of Christ sends delegates to Independence who will represent their unique spiritual/cultural perspectives. The Assembly is made up of 3 - 5,000 delegates from 52+ nations from around the world, each conferring and striving to reach consensus with other delegates using Robert’s Rules of Order. (Imagine the United Nations with delegates able to speak at a microphone in order to ask questions/raise concerns/speak in favor or against.)

I had the privilege of being an Oklahoma Delegate this year, and I enjoyed my experience immensely! Some of the highlights for me?
​
  1. The People
    1. I can’t help but love all of the perspectives…even those I disagree with. I love that we have such a rich international membership. It only takes one look around The Auditorium to see just how blessed we are. With each country we have a presence in, I believe our mission becomes more like Christ’s mission.
  2. The Place (Temple & Auditorium)
    1. I can’t help but fall in love with our faith community all over again when I attend events at The Temple and Auditorium. When I walk in the doors…I feel a deep sense of calm come over me.
    2. The second thought that always comes to me as I walk the halls of this beautiful building? This building is ours. A deep love for this church, the pursuit of peace, and a great deal of commitment went into this structure.
    3. The third thought that always comes to me as I walk the halls of this beautiful building? I want to share this with everyone I know.
  3. The Process
    1. I can’t help but love the way Community of Christ World Conference works. Our faith community is a theocratic democracy – or a theodemocracy. While certain divine authority rests with the First Presidency and other world church leaders, The Assembly has the ability to decide on various topics from our church’s stance on modern issues today, approving/rejecting policies presented by leaders, and more.
    2. This year, World Conference introduced the Common Consent process. I was personally a big fan of this! This new process gave delegates the opportunity to vote using electronic polling devices on their perspective of the conference resolutions throughout the conference. An initial poll was taken asking delegates to rate their level of support (or lack thereof), followed by a secondary poll to gauge perspectives on why. This helped the body to move towards a more unified voice as it related to amendments and/or other changes throughout World Conference.
    3. More information on the Common Consent process can be found here: http://www.cofchrist.org/common/cms/resources/Documents/Common-Consent-Advisory-Team-Report.pdf
One of the orders of business for The Assembly is to vote on the acceptance of the Prophet/President’s Words of Counsel – Community of Christ calls this continuing revelation. Our faith community prayerfully listens to understand God’s will for our lives, the church, and creation. At World Conference 2016, President Steve Veazey presented his Words of Counsel to the church. The Assembly voted to approve this, and it has now been added into the Doctrine & Covenants as Section 165. You can find it here: http://www.cofchrist.org/doctrine-and-covenants-section-165

I’ll share a few of my favorite lines…

6 a. Beloved Community of Christ, do not just speak and sing of Zion. Live, love, and share as Zion: those who strive to be visibly one in Christ, among whom there are no poor or oppressed.
b. As Christ’s body, lovingly and patiently bear the weight of criticism from those who hesitate to respond to the divine vision of human worth and equality in Christ. This burden and blessing is yours for divine purposes.
 
Thank you for allowing me to be an Oklahoma Delegate this year. I was blessed because of it!
 
Parker Johnson
Church Mission & Young Adult Ministry Specialist
Calgary, Alberta

Enjoy this audio recording of The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning from the June 4, 2016, service in The Auditorium. (I recorded it myself!)

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6/12/2016

World Conference 2016 in Review...by Tracey Johnson

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Throughout the 8 days at conference, my thoughts kept coming back to the same statement:
 
We are bound together.
 
My sister, Becky Brinlee, and I spent a good amount of time together this week. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever been on such a long road trip with JUST my sister. We chattered and laughed on the way up and fell quite silent by the time we got home. I loved getting to know her better as a sister and friend at this stage in our lives. 
 
I was so blessed to watch my son, Parker Johnson, work the crowd there. Because he’s who he is, he knows a lot of people from all over the world. He treasures his relationships and friendships and kindles each one. He is bound by the relationships and perspectives he has gathered as he’s grown up in our church.
 
We are bound together as a community of believers...
 
...When we sang “The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning” with the huge gathering of saints at Sunday morning communion service with such vigor and enthusiasm and HOPE.
 
...When we gathered together each day to sit, side by side, in delegations from all over the world, working to achieve common consent on issues where all perspectives needed to be voiced in order to completely understand.
 
We attended a garage sale or two (or was it 25?). At a particular church sale, we noticed after pulling out of the parking lot that it was a restoration branch of our church. I began to notice more congregations like that one as we drove from here to there. Honestly, I was pretty disappointed to see so many who had left our church to take a stand in another direction. I was unclear of the beliefs of the restoration and remnant churches. I soon realized it’s not who we AREN'T, it’s who we ARE. And that’s what I believe ties Community of Christ together in the most important way. Community of Christ is bound by the belief that stands for the worth of all persons. 
 
We are bound together with a common cause.
 
The new tithing policy is something I am quite appreciative of, thus challenged by. 
 
A testimony was given one day about the first conference in Independence, more than 100 years ago. When the offering was taken there, money was gathered, but things like diamonds, pearls and rubies were also in the baskets. The members felt compelled to give the treasures they were wearing to support the cause of Zion. 
 
Steve Veazey’s words at the final Saturday morning service spoke to me. “The only way that there will be no poor or oppressed is for the rest of us to change our ways.” 
 
I heard those words. They rang true to me. 
 
He also said these words, “Generosity is spiritually liberating for those who are caught in excessive consumerism and self-indulgence."
 
I would like to align my time, talents and budget with the church’s new tithing policy. I plan to make more purposeful, responsible purchases, budgeting more carefully, so there is more money to contribute to the work of the church and the needs of others. 
 
Tracey Johnson
Seminole Congregation

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3/19/2016

Generosity: Another Perspective

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There are moments when it can appear that there is nothing but bad news that comes from World Church, especially when it comes to finances. However, for this month’s testimony I want to to share with you another perspective, the other side of the story, the good news about generosity in the church and the impact we are making. Here are three generosity facts for each Mission Initiative from the past 12 months:

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Invite People To Christ
  • Over 2 million pages were viewed on www.cofchrist.org, by more than 200,000 people, from 200 different countries
  • There were over 31,000 visitors to the Kirtland temple (95% of visitors were not current members of Community of Christ) and nearly 12,000 visitors to the Temple in Independence
  • We had an increase of 67% in followers in Social Media
 
Pursue Peace
  • More than 14,000 people participated in the Golden Jubilee Celebration in Orissa, India
  • There were over 4,000 children that visited the Children’s Peace Pavilion
  • 1,097 hours were volunteered for the Daily Prayer for Peace
 
Abolish Poverty and End Suffering
  • $1,967,000 in World Hunger grants and $255,000 in Tangible Love grants were given
  • This funded 78 projects in USA, Honduras, India, Philippines, Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, England, Malawi, Chile, Nepal, Ivory Coast)
  • Oblation funds were used to provide $5,000 for 270 families in Malawi after flooding, $25,500 was sent to Nepal after the earthquake and $10,000 was given to assist the Syrian refugee crisis
 
Develop Disciples to Serve
  • 23 World Service Corps volunteers served in 11 countries (USA, Honduras, South Korea, Spain, French Polynesia, England, Germany, Netherlands, China, Thailand, New Zealand)
  • Nearly 9,000 people visited www.spiritualformationcenter.org from 97 countries
  • There were 8,056 hits to Lessons and Ideas on www.cofchrist.org and over 500 downloads of the Doctrine and Covenants eBook

Experience Congregations in Mission
  • 163,000 visits to the Resources section of www.cofchrst.org
  • 300 French and English versions of Community of Christ Sings were distributed in Eastern Africa.
  • Over 800 participants from 101 congregation participated in the Leading Congregations in Mission (LCM) program, during 78 Retreats in USA, Canada, Australia and the British Isles

General
  • Nearly $200,000 was given online in less than 24 hours on Giving Tuesday 2015
  • There are now more contributors to Mission Tithes than in the last 5 years, with nearly 500 new donors in 2015
  • Not to forget the over 45,000 weekly worship services, lead, organized and planned by thousands of volunteer pastors and priesthood members the world over
 
What is the message we should take from the past 12 months in the life of the church? 

I want to suggest that the message is: Membership is growing, generosity is increasing and the church is making an impact. Thank you!
 
Richard Betts
Generosity Team Leader
 
Find out more about Richard by clicking here.

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2/20/2016

Wild Hope in Bewildering Times

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What a devastatingly difficult time in the life of Community of Christ!

We just lived through a frightening year of budget reductions and staff layoffs. With such sadness barely behind us, how could this be happening AGAIN?!?!
 
Several days have gone by now, since the news began going out to the church. In a way, it hasn’t gotten any easier. But the Holy Spirit is so very persistent.
 
Words from Doctrine and Covenants 164: 9a keep asserting themselves in my mind. 
9 a. Beloved children of the Restoration, your continuing faith adventure with God has been divinely led, eventful, challenging, and sometimes surprising to you. By the grace of God, you are poised to fulfill God’s ultimate vision for the church.


Challenges abound! That’s sure an understatement!
 
Poised to fulfill God's ultimate vision for the church?!?  What might that be? Is that message to us a mistake?
 
No!
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What’s really wild is that everywhere I go in the church I see opportunity as never before. At no time in my lifetime, have I had so much hope for the church I love. 
 
Self-sustaining leaders of all ages are stepping up with renewed energy and determination to engage in Christ's mission, offering invitation, peace and refuge. 
 
People are experimenting with exciting new ministries, creating entry points for people into the church, to be embraced by the Holy Spirit and to find a loving community. We've got Meetups on Meetup.com, Coffee and Conversation groups at local coffee houses, Community Place creatively using the internet to keep people connected, Congregation Revitalization at world church and in mission centres, the Leading Congregations in Mission Program, innovative ministries, campus ministries, volunteer teams leading mission centres, Developing Disciples to Serve Retreats and other similar leadership classes deepening our discipleship, community gardens, community meals, campgrounds, new congregations springing up and heritage congregations rediscovering pride in a sacred identity worth sharing. 
 
Thousands of people, Latter-day Seekers and others, every year, are checking out the Community of Christ. Many are finding it to be a good place of sanctuary, openness, authenticity and a spiritual home through which to engage in mission. 
 
So much financial stress and strain and so much hope, all at the same time! I so hope we haven’t really reached the limits of our generosity! I’m really hoping that we’ve not yet achieved our true capacity, so that we can ramp up our giving to be able to pursue all these opportunities.
 
Our heritage of faith is filled with stories of God choosing to work with the one who others might dismiss. (David, the shepherd boy, Mary, the unwed young mother, Saul, the hateful persecutor, Joseph, a poor boy seeking answers.)
 
We must not give up! 
Don't miss out on the opportunity to be part of what God has in store for us. 
 
These are not just words. It is time to faithfully apply all the work we’ve done together over these last years, to discern God's call to us as a church for this day and age. 
We must share our basic beliefs, our enduring principles, our mission initiatives and the wonderful spirit of the Restoration with others. 
 
Share about our Children’s Peace Pavilion! Invite friends into the great story of this fabulous ministry that’s not just a museum in Independence, but a program that can be established in a variety of ways in your very own community.
 
Share about Outreach International! Invite friends to know of this life saving ministry!
 
Share about Encounter World Religions! Invite friends to thrill in learning and building new relationships across cultures! Did you know that this unique program of Community of Christ has been honored as a gift to the world by the Parliament of the World’s Religions?
 
Share about the work of our church Peace and Justice Team, or the Human Rights Team! Invite your friends to make a difference!
 
Share our sacred story with a Latter-day Seeker! Prepare yourself through studying materials on the Latter-day Seeker website. Become a living sanctuary of God’s grace with those searching. Mentor someone in person or on-line.
 
Share our beautiful new hymnal! Consider having extra copies to give to interested friends. This is a wonderful witness for sharing our message of God’s love for all with the world.
 
Share the sacred story of our church, the adventure, the way it has made a difference in your life and in the lives of others around the world! Read Community of Christ, an Illustrated History, and then share it with a friend. Then share another copy with someone else.
 
Share an invitation to a camp or a reunion!
 
Share an invitation to a silent retreat or to another opportunity to grow spiritually!
 
Share an invitation to build relationships through conversation that matters!
 
Share an invitation with a brother or sister, someone from Community of Christ, who has been neglected or ignored, or who we've struggled with, to sit down for a chat. Listen to them. 
 
Pray the Mission Prayer every day, or multiple times every day. Share and invite as you feel led.
 
Prepare to be astonished at what is going to happen as we respond.  Can you almost catch a glimpse of it (God's ultimate vision for the church)?
 
Friends, God's not done with us yet! This wonderful Community of Christ is about to burst with all the potential inside. Let's let it out!
 
I am deeply honoured to be one of your apostles in this exciting time!
 
In Christ's peace,
 
Art Smith
Council of Twelve

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