December 19, 2008

connecting the Community of Christ staff community

Holiday Schedule

Activities at International Headquarters have a modified schedule during the Christmas holidays.

• IHQ offices, the Temple Book Store and the Children’s Peace Pavilion will be closed Wednesday, December 24 through Friday, January 2. There will be no building tours or during that time and there is no organ recital on Sunday, December 28.
• The Temple will be open each day for the Prayer for Peace at 1 p.m. Everyone is welcome to join us for this 15-minute time of prayer.
• Regular schedules will resume on Monday, January 5.

January E-Group Meetings 

Enrichment Group activities regularly scheduled for January 7 will be “un”decorating IHQ of Christmas decorations.  We will use our regular Enrichment Group meeting time so many hands will make light work of this task.  Each Enrichment Group will take responsibility for a particular area of IHQ:

8:00 a.m. –World Church Leadership Council and Support – World Plaza Tree; nativities and garland in the Temple

2:00 p.m. – Ministry Support Specialists – Temple foyer tree and poinsettias in the Temple

3:30 p.m. – Service Support Specialists – North and West Foyer Auditorium trees and poinsettias in the Auditorium

Storage boxes and wrapping will be provided.  Refreshments will be served.  Come and celebrate the new year in fellowship.

Evangelist Training Weekend

In mid-November, 90 Evangelists from as far away as Virgina, Alabama, Washington, Michigan, and Tennessee came to the Temple to participate in the Temple School Evangelist training course. Instructors included Velma Ruch, Everett Graffeo, Danny Belrose, and Dick and Barbara Howard.

"This weekend was a special moment for the Order of Evangelists.  The expertise of the evangelist instructors who have had such impact on the church and the Order, along with the desire for learning on the part of so many evangelists, and a few who came to learn more about the office, provided an experience that exceeded any of our expectations." said Dave Brock, Presiding Evangelist.

New Look to www.CofChrist.org

Starting January 5, the Community of Christ website will debut a new look and a new focus on how we are living our mission.  This is a result of the recently-developed visual identity guidelines and other work of the Integrated Communication Team. 

Some familiar elements will remain, like the dropdown navigation bar at the top of the page.  If you’ve bookmarked your favorite pages, you’ll still find them in the same location. 

Look for...

• new stories and media highlighting congregations and ministries who are living our mission
• expanded automatic translation of page text: instead of four languages, we’ll now offer 35 languages
• more photos and artwork plus new color schemes

Hymnal Project Featured

The Community of Christ Hymnal Project was featured in a front page article of the Fall 2008 “The Stanza,” the semiannual newsletter for members of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. The article highlighted our open submission process and encouraged readers to think about submitting a hymn for consideration.

Interpersonal Peacebuilding

We had a great response to the two Interpersonal Peacebuilding classes offered this fall with many positive comments and stories of how these skills are being used in our day-to-day interactions here at work, and with families at home.  

“I appreciated the opportunity to take the Interpersonal Peacebuilding class.  Since I work in a corner of the Auditorium, I sometimes feel out of touch with others that work at IHQ.  This class allowed me to interact with folks that I don’t see regularly. I learned how to listen more, very important not only here at work but also in my family life.” –Shawn Mallas

“I was excited to discover how the skills learned and practiced in the Interpersonal Peacebuilding class integrated beautifully with my work in Discipleship Formation. The connection I made with other participants was an unexpected benefit – I actually know who Margaret McDowell is when I say hi to her.”  –Mary Gill

Opportunities are now forming for early 2009. Talk with your e-group leader and primary team leader to benefit from this development opportunity. Each training session consists of either two full days or five half day sessions. Please send questions or RSVP to Jan Marshall.

Seminary Convocation

You are invited to the seventh annual Community of Christ Seminary Convocation January 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Graceland University’s Independence, Missouri, campus. President Emeritus Wallace B. Smith will be presented with the Visionary Award. Tony Chvala-Smith, associate professor of Christian theology, will be the keynote speaker. President Steve Veazey and Graceland President John Sellars will also share during the worship. A reception will follow. For further information contact Tere Naylor at 1-800-833-0524, ext. 4903.

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