Saints Herald

The Center Place of the Community of Christ Bloggitorium

In the latest edition of The Hastening Times on its website,[1] the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has published a timeline for constructing a temple in Jackson County, Missouri. First among the church’s one-year goals, beginning April 2013 is:

#1 Expand our understanding on Temple insights, a. Purpose of the temple, b. Operations within the temple, c. Design and structure of the Temple, d. Timeline for the location and completion of the Temple.

Ground-breaking for the temple is listed among the church’s three-year goals (to be accomplished by April 2016), and “the Temple completed and functioning in all aspects” is on the list of five-year goals (April 2018 deadline).  Given that the design is not slated to be finalized until April 2014, the early artists’ rendering attached to this post may not reflect the final plan.

The Remnant Church is one of the denominations that coalesced out of the “Restorationist” movement — a late 20th-century conservative split from Community of Christ. The proposed temple will be at the heart of the Remnant Church’s new zionic community, known as “Bountiful” (named for a city and land in the Book of Mormon).  Building zionic communities has been a core theme within the Latter Day Saint tradition dating back to the foundation of the movement.

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I want to share my recent blog post: The Cross, or Why We Need It.  It is on my blog.  I take on the dominant view of the cross about personal salvation and sin. My testimony is that the cross is a witness from the ancients about life in empire, the fate of God, & human relationships. I welcome your comments.

(Click to go to mattfrizzell.com)

Due to the sudden interest in the conflicts in Central Africa, particularly Uganda, caused by the highly problematic film from Invisible Children, I am sure that many congregations are showing interest in supporting peacebuilding in the region.

I have compiled a list of better ways to donate money and stand in solidarity with the people of Uganda.

Outreach International, a charity affiliated with the Community of Christ, is advertising a long-term volunteer position in Haiti. For information, click here.

Christmas weekend, a commercial invitation for Community of Christ will be airing on local TV stations in the greater Kansas City area.  It is being aired by three mission centers:  Central Mission, Midlands Mission Center, and Far West.

The commercials were created by a team including Tom Cochran, Brady Cackler, and Bryce Veazey.  The commercial advertises a link that will help visitors find a Community of Christ congregation near them.  The site goes live Christmas eve.

I celebrate these commercials.

As I think of these commercials airing across Kansas City, it’s interesting to consider the mixed views surrounding the current relationship of church and culture.  The idea of Community of Christ commercials certainly takes a step toward our world of media dominated communication, multimedia experience, and its emotional power over us.  The long discussion of the relationship between church and culture is a centuries old theological one.  Listen to the variety of perspectives on issues like sexuality and mega-churches or contemporary worship, you will hear the legacy of perspectives and their imprint on the church today.

Consider, for instance, the many views among church-goers on mega-churches and contemporary worship.   Especially among members of small churches, you don’t have to go far to find those who lament how worship has become more and more like entertainment.   It’s more than a few.  I’ve heard liberal and conservative, young and old, express how mega-churches cheapen church membership and entertainment doesn’t belong in church.    Listen to the heated opinions around sexuality and orientation and you’ll also hear members policing the borders of church and culture even more.   Both sides lay claim.  On one side, accepting homosexuality just dilutes faith with more worldly attitudes.  Culture has gone morally adrift.  While the other side is adamant that discriminating against same-sex love is less-than-prophetic at best, and reflects the spiritual failure of popular Christianity.  Again, where the church marks off its separation from the world and culture is deeply important.

With commercials, Community of Christ again joins the fray.

Now that I live in Lamoni,I live among the Amish.  The Amish are an example of Christian community whose identity is deeply embedded with a sense of separation from surrounding society.  On one end of the spectrum, the Amish police the boundaries of their community and its practices to preserve a way of life  that sets it apart and keeps sacred a visible sense of community and culture.  The Amish do not have televisions or internet, let alone commercials inviting others to join them.

On the other end, the seemingly most culturally accommodating Christians – American evangelicals – do the same.   Driving minivans and crossovers to the mall and talking on iPhones, evangelical Christians permeate ever strata of our society.  Yet, they mark themselves off  with a strong sense of belief and religious identity.   The success of evangelicalism, however, rests not in their separation from our culture but in the success evangelicalism has in baptizing almost anything.   From raves to retro, fashion to finances, and dating services, evangelicalism is distinct in how it accommodates and transforms any cultural medium with its message.   Christianity crossed with mass production.

It’s interesting to consider how the RLDS/Community of Christ fits in this sort of continuum.  On the one hand, the church has been too small to have a television presence like the Mormons.  However, the church’s media presence, however small,  is not new .  In the 1920′s, the RLDS church owned a radio station (KFIX, later KLDS and KMBZ), which broadcast from the Auditorium.   Rummage around an old congregation and you will still find the broadcast sermons of Arthur Oakman or Evan Fry, either in print or on tape.  The church also ran TV ads sporadically in the Kansas City area in the 1980′s and 90′s.

While the relationship of church and culture is interesting, to some degree it doesn’t matter.  There is something powerful in watching the faces of friends on the screen in this new commercial.  I’m moved as I see the church where Margo and I were married (Stone Church), and the images of people projected upon it in a way that transforms the building.  I have emotions as the commercial ends with the name of my church in the center of the screen.

If God would stoop so low to be born human, any church that bears Jesus’ name should consider any means necessary to extend God’s invitation.   “A community for you,” that’s what the commercial advertises.   It is professionally done, moving, and creative.   While I’m sure the commercial took tremendous time, effort, and money, I think the challenge will not be getting it aired.  It’ll be delivering on what it promises:  a community for whomever’s watching.

Great job, brothers Tom, Brady, and Bryce.  May our congregations live up to their name and embrace whomever walks through their doors.

Over 250,000 may be watching.

I was at Duarte Square, Lower Manhattan, this afternoon as retired Episcopal Bishop George Packard, and several other clergy were arrested supporting Occupy Wall Street’s attempt to start a new occupation on land owned by Trinity Church Wall Street. For a video of him talking with protestors in the back of an NYPD paddywagon, click here.

“I am still baffled that the Episcopal Church of which I have been a member all my life could not–through Trinity–find some way to embrace these thousands of young people in our very diminishing ranks,” said Bishop Packard, the former bishop for the armed services, on his blog, Occupied Bishop.

Packard is not the only high-ranking Episcopal leader who has supported the movement. In an open letter to Occupy Wall Street, anti-apartheid hero Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and former Deacon at Trinity Church, said:

“Injustice, unfairness, and the strangle hold of greed which has beset humanity in our times must be answered with a resounding, ‘No!’ You are that answer. I write this to you not many miles away from the houses of the poor in my country. It pains me despite all the progress we have made. You see, the heartbeat of what you are asking for–that those who have too much must wake up to the cries of their brothers and sisters who have so little–beats in me and all South Africans who believe in justice.”

To watch a video of interfaith leaders addressing the Occupiers at Duarte Square today, click here.

Do you think Community of Christ clergy should join the Occupy Movement? How should the church more generally interact with the Occupy Movement?

[Updated 19 December 2011]

[This thoughtful post was written by Jim Craft, in response to the earlier post by Matthew Bolton: "How Should the Church Interact with the Occupy Movement?" -- Ed.]

During the last few months, we have been bombarded with images of fellow citizens camped out in public parks around the nation. Most of the attention has focused on a group in Manhattan which is called “Occupy Wall Street”. This group has taken their grievances to the people they feel are responsible for whatever ills society is suffering from today, Wall Street.

What I have noticed is that the message isn’t entirely clear. When the protests first started, I was listening to a broadcast from Dave Ramsey while driving back to my office from a rural courthouse. Mr. Ramsey was having audience members who identified with the Occupy movement call in and explain what and why they were protesting or considering themselves members of this group. There was absolutely no clear consensus among ANY of the callers why they were protesting, other than they were just “mad” about the way things were going for them. Almost none of them could explain the economic injustices they were protesting, or even what they were experiencing.

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