“It is inspiring to see how the church today expresses principles articulated by visionaries who were 60 years ahead of their time”
– Lew Shepherdson, Ottawa, Ontario
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Topics:
Encounter World Religions Centre | Discovery Week | Community of Christ Seminary | Graceland University | MEADS | Centre Place lecture series | Develop Disciples to Serve |
In July 2005, I attended the Encounter World Religions Discovery Week. Sitting downstairs in the Bathurst Street church, avidly listening to JW Windland lecture, I felt my mind stretching and my awareness expanding as JW explained concepts and made new connections I’d never even thought of before. I remember thinking to myself: “I love this stuff — why haven’t I been taking these kinds of courses for the last 25 years?!”
Despite this epiphany during that amazing, eye-opening Discovery Week experience, the years kept rolling by. Through my involvement with Graceland University, I had a passing awareness of the seminary program, but one day in early Sept 2013, a marketing email from Community of Christ Seminary grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let go. It was promoting the upcoming semester that would start with a class on Hebrew scriptures taught by Wayne Ham. I remembered that feeling in the Encounter World Religions class and again thought “I really should do this.” I kept thinking about it all that day, but hadn’t yet even discussed the possibility with my wife, when the next morning I received an email from Pam in our Ottawa congregation, asking me to be a reference for her application to the seminary program. Getting to share the experience with Pam was the final incentive I needed, and I soon replied “No, I can’t be your reference — because I’m applying too!”
That started one of the most exhilarating and life-changing experiences of my life. The two years was a lot of work — with at least 20 hours of reading and writing and online discussions each week — but I loved it! It was such fun learning so much history and theology and scripture, discovering that I really didn’t have a clue about some concepts I thought I already understood, and sharing so deeply with the diverse group of 25-30 other students from all over — including from Ukraine, Tahiti, and Australia. I got to learn from amazing teachers and insightful fellow students, and I created lasting friendships.
Seminary changed how I saw and understood everything: my concepts of God, Jesus, scripture, theology, church, our history, ethics, mission — they all evolved. It was like going from watching a grainy 10-inch black & white TV to seeing it on a 65-inch screen in full HD colour. It is inspiring to see how the church today expresses principles articulated by visionaries who were 60 years ahead of their time, and to wonder how what we envision today might look like in our future. I continue to be inspired to learn through MEADS courses, Centre Place lectures, church-wide online webinars, and by leading classes in our congregation and mission centres.
Understanding our past as a church prepares us for the challenges we’re facing as our society, Christianity as a whole, and Community of Christ, all struggle to adapt to the post-modern culture we now live in. As a church community, the choices we’re making right now are going to define our trajectory for the next 50-75 years. We’re making history as we try to figure out what it means to be the church in Canada and how we can be that church. The pandemic has actually pushed us along that path, as it has forced us to re-think what we do, and to try new things and new ways of doing them. We’re evolving and adapting as we go.
The seminary education has helped me think about church and mission from different perspectives. But more than anything, my seminary experience filled me with hope and with assurance that, as with every ancient people or community in the past, God is present with us. Whenever communities of ordinary people are willing to do radical things — embrace love instead of fear, inclusion instead of exclusion, abundance instead of scarcity, generosity instead of greed — whether it’s called Zion, or the upside-down kingdom, or the peaceable kingdom, God is there.
I want to be part of our church community adventure, especially as we wrestle with how we will do mission. Will we as a church or as congregations only do prudent things that “make sense” based on the values of our culture, or does being faithful to our mission mean that we will engage in ministries that “make sense” only when measured by grace?
Despite this epiphany during that amazing, eye-opening Discovery Week experience, the years kept rolling by. Through my involvement with Graceland University, I had a passing awareness of the seminary program, but one day in early Sept 2013, a marketing email from Community of Christ Seminary grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let go. It was promoting the upcoming semester that would start with a class on Hebrew scriptures taught by Wayne Ham. I remembered that feeling in the Encounter World Religions class and again thought “I really should do this.” I kept thinking about it all that day, but hadn’t yet even discussed the possibility with my wife, when the next morning I received an email from Pam in our Ottawa congregation, asking me to be a reference for her application to the seminary program. Getting to share the experience with Pam was the final incentive I needed, and I soon replied “No, I can’t be your reference — because I’m applying too!”
That started one of the most exhilarating and life-changing experiences of my life. The two years was a lot of work — with at least 20 hours of reading and writing and online discussions each week — but I loved it! It was such fun learning so much history and theology and scripture, discovering that I really didn’t have a clue about some concepts I thought I already understood, and sharing so deeply with the diverse group of 25-30 other students from all over — including from Ukraine, Tahiti, and Australia. I got to learn from amazing teachers and insightful fellow students, and I created lasting friendships.
Seminary changed how I saw and understood everything: my concepts of God, Jesus, scripture, theology, church, our history, ethics, mission — they all evolved. It was like going from watching a grainy 10-inch black & white TV to seeing it on a 65-inch screen in full HD colour. It is inspiring to see how the church today expresses principles articulated by visionaries who were 60 years ahead of their time, and to wonder how what we envision today might look like in our future. I continue to be inspired to learn through MEADS courses, Centre Place lectures, church-wide online webinars, and by leading classes in our congregation and mission centres.
Understanding our past as a church prepares us for the challenges we’re facing as our society, Christianity as a whole, and Community of Christ, all struggle to adapt to the post-modern culture we now live in. As a church community, the choices we’re making right now are going to define our trajectory for the next 50-75 years. We’re making history as we try to figure out what it means to be the church in Canada and how we can be that church. The pandemic has actually pushed us along that path, as it has forced us to re-think what we do, and to try new things and new ways of doing them. We’re evolving and adapting as we go.
The seminary education has helped me think about church and mission from different perspectives. But more than anything, my seminary experience filled me with hope and with assurance that, as with every ancient people or community in the past, God is present with us. Whenever communities of ordinary people are willing to do radical things — embrace love instead of fear, inclusion instead of exclusion, abundance instead of scarcity, generosity instead of greed — whether it’s called Zion, or the upside-down kingdom, or the peaceable kingdom, God is there.
I want to be part of our church community adventure, especially as we wrestle with how we will do mission. Will we as a church or as congregations only do prudent things that “make sense” based on the values of our culture, or does being faithful to our mission mean that we will engage in ministries that “make sense” only when measured by grace?
