CPI Shows Considerable Personal Impact on North America Congregations

The Co-Missioned Pastor Initiative (CPI) continues to teach and support 100 bi-vocational Community of Christ pastors in the United States and Canada. It is a partnership between the World Church and field congregations to provide training and a modest annual stipend to pastors willing to dedicate five years to local leadership. The CPI pastors are divided into four cohort groups that rotate through varied training sessions. It is expected that CPI will lengthen the tenure of pastors and attract leaders from the next generation of disciples.

The Co-Missioned Pastor Initiative (CPI) was launched at the 2004 World Conference. Then-president Grant McMurray introduced the pilot program in his March 28, 2004, Conference sermon. “We need strong congregations where worship is central, the Christian faith is taught and lived out, and pastoral nurture is evident,” said McMurray. “One primary way to strengthen the church in the U.S. and Canada is to more effectively equip the pastoral leadership of our congregations.” CPI has been answering that call for the past three years.

Cheryl Brooks of Ontario, Canada, attended the 2004 World Conference and knew immediately she wished to be involved in CPI. Since 2002, she has served as pastor of a rural congregation in Corinth, Ontario, that has been a part of the church for 130 years. (John J. Cornish, prolific missionary of the early Reorganization, wrote of preaching at Corinth in 1877 in his autobiography Into the Latter-day Light.) Brooks is a part of the inaugural CPI Cohort One.

“Our congregation has been very supportive of the CPI program,” said Brooks. “Even though I am the one doing the courses, I have always considered us a team in the CPI program. It’s a wonderful congregation to be a part of.”

During another time to another church in another Corinth, the apostle Paul wrote, “So that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5 NRSV). Brooks still feels that power today.

“I feel God at my side through this whole journey,” said Brooks. “I have especially felt that I have personally taken a big leap of faith with everything I have done. I had never flown on a plane before so even that experience has been truly amazing.”

“Cheryl is one of the most enthusiastic pastors, who constantly expresses her appreciation for CPI,” said CPI coordinator Tom Mountenay. “Cheryl is typical of the pastors in CPI who want to learn and apply new ministry skills to support their congregations.”
The congregations likewise support their pastors. CPI participants are also strengthened by other pastor colleagues turned new friends from around North America with whom they share the bond of CPI classes, fellowship, and shared experiences.

“CPI is a comprehensive leadership support system for pastors,” explained Mountenay. “This is a cooperative and collaborative process that includes the pastors, the congregations and mission center staff, the Community of Christ Seminary, and church leaders from International Headquarters.”

The Corinth, Ontario, congregation is reaching out to their community. Brooks and her congregation are involved in an annual craft day and car show. They also give peace award scholarships to area students who expound on the theme of what peace means to them in their own pursuit of peace.

“We are trying to get our congregation known more in the area by not just Sunday services, but also through different events we have at the church,” said Brooks. “It allows the community in, and that gives our church visibility.”

“CPI has empowered congregations such as Corinth and pastors like Cheryl to gain confidence and skill in being the peace of Jesus Christ in their communities,” said Canada Mission Field apostle Mary Jacks Dynes. “CPI has also empowered the mission center leadership to use some of their models to help guide their other congregations as well.”

Paul’s second letter to the first-century church at Corinth, Asia Minor, expressed an early apostle’s aspiration for the fledgling Christian church: “Our hope is that, as your faith increases, our sphere of action among you may be greatly enlarged” (2 Corinthians 10:15 NRSV). For a modern-day church in Corinth, Canada, CPI is equipping a pastor for ministry in the 21st century—not only for Cheryl Brooks, but for 99 other dedicated shepherds of Community of Christ congregations throughout the United States and Canada.

Visit www.CofChrist.org/co-missioned/default.asp  for more information about the Co-Missioned Pastor Initiative.

—Dirk Ellingson reporting