Church News!

(For readers who are members of the Community of Christ....)

The Presidency just released a "Letter of Counsel" outlining changes in the leadership quorums of the church.

All the changes seem inspired, but two stand out as particularly inspiring: First, to fill a vacancy in the Presidency (Ken Robinson is retiring) Becky Savage has been called - the first woman in the First Presidency! More than twenty years after women have been being ordained to the priesthood, it's no real surprise or shock, but it is still a landmark. The only question is how Savage will bring her recent work as (new) head of leadership development into her new position.

Second, and particularly thrilling for me, the International Director of Peace and Justice Ministries and a personal friend, Andrew Bolton (pictured) is being called to fill a vacancy in the Council of Twelve. The foremost activist and minister for peace and justice is now an international officer. A drawback to this change is that Bolton's position as director and coordinator of P&J ministries will not be filled in his absence - which means that although Bolton will surely direct much of his ministry in the direction of peace and justice, the church will no longer have a full-time position dedicated to moving peace and justice work and understanding in the church. And students at Graceland will surely miss such a dynamic teacher, as I imagine Bolton won't have time to continue being an adjunct professor there.

I'm in the percarious position of wanting TWO people be my Apostle! (In our church, we have twelve "Apostles" which serve as special witnesses of Christ and have administrative responsibilities over different regions of the earth; and right now- by an unusual coincidence, my mother-in-law is "my" Apostle, whom I deeply love and respect, of course.) I suppose several of us in the Pacific Northwest will have to pick up our share of the Peace and Justice banner and march on while Andrew challenges and encourages others elsewhere.

"Congratulations" never seem like the right thing to give to people who have received ministerial callings. But considering how richly blessed the church will be, I congratulate the church at large! This is really exciting news.