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On April 21, 1996, I brought to the church words of counsel which I felt led to share, without any specific instruction as to their
ultimate disposition. I felt it was important that the church live with the words and not feel compelled to make any urgent decisions about them. During the intervening four years I have been led back to
them many times and have pondered their meaning and their timeliness. Without clinging to every word or phrase, I have remained assured of the rightness of the message, but I have also sensed that it was
incomplete, that there was more to be said. I did not then understand that our journey of transformation would instill new depth and insight.
I have continued to wrestle with the message, sensitive to the importance of expressing it with integrity and always aware of my own human failings and uncertainties. In accordance with the responsibilities
I carry, filled with love for the church and its people, and grateful to a God who sustains me in my many weaknesses, I humbly present the following counsel to the church for whatever formal consideration
may be appropriate. I do so confident that the Spirit which accompanied its preparation will also abide with those who embrace its challenge.
To the Councils, Quorums, and Orders, to the World
Conference, and to the Church:
1a. Lift up your eyes and fix them on the place beyond the horizon to which you are sent. Journey in trust, assured that the great and marvelous work is for this
time and for all time.
b. Claim your unique and sacred place within the circle of those who call upon the name of Jesus Christ. Be faithful to the spirit of the Restoration, mindful that it is a
spirit of adventure, openness, and searching. Walk proudly and with a quickened step. Be a joyful people. Laugh and play and sing, embodying the hope and freedom of the gospel.
2a. Become a people of
the Temple-those who see violence but proclaim peace, who feel conflict yet extend the hand of reconciliation, who encounter broken spirits and find pathways for healing.
b. Fulfill the purposes of
the Temple by making its ministries manifest in your hearts. It was built from your sacrifices and searching over many generations. Let it stand as a towering symbol of a people who knew injustice and strife
on the frontier and who now seek the peace of Jesus Christ throughout the world.
3a. Open your hearts and feel the yearnings of your brothers and sisters who are lonely, despised, fearful, neglected,
unloved. Reach out in understanding, clasp their hands, and invite all to share in the blessings of community created in the name of the One who suffered on behalf of all.
b. Do not be fearful of one
another. Respect each life journey, even in its brokenness and uncertainty, for each person has walked alone at times. Be ready to listen and slow to criticize, lest judgments be unrighteous and
unredemptive.
c. Be patient with one another, for creating sacred community is arduous and even painful. But it is to loving community such as this that each is called. Be courageous and visionary,
believing in the power of just a few vibrant witnesses to transform the world. Be assured that love will overcome the voices of fear, division, and deceit.
d. Understand that the road to
transformation travels both inward and outward. The road to transformation is the path of the disciple.
4a. Do not neglect the smallest among you, for even the least of these are treasures in God's
sight. Receive the giftedness and energy of children and youth, listening to understand their questions and their wisdom. Respond to their need to be loved and nurtured as they grow.
b. Be mindful of
the changing of life's seasons, of the passage from the springtime of childhood and youth to the winter years of life. Embrace the blessing of your many differences. Be tender and caring. Be reminded once
again that the gifts of all are necessary in order that divine purposes may be accomplished.
5. Be respectful of tradition. Do not fail to listen attentively to the telling of the sacred story, for
the story of scripture and of faith empowers and illuminates. But neither be captive to time-bound formulas and procedures. Remember that instruction given in former years is applicable in principle and must
be measured against the needs of a growing church, in accordance with the prayerful direction of the spiritual authorities and the consent of the people.
6a. Stand firm in the name of the One you
proclaim and create diverse communities of disciples and seekers, rejoicing in the continuing fulfillment of the call to this people to prophetically witness in the name of Jesus Christ.
b. Heed the
urgent call to become a global family united in the name of the Christ, committed in love to one another, seeking the kingdom for which you yearn and to which you have always been summoned. That kingdom
shall be a peaceable one and it shall be known as Zion.
7. The Spirit of the One you follow is the spirit of love and peace. That Spirit seeks to abide in the hearts of those who would embrace its
call and live its message. The path will not always be easy, the choices will not always be clear, but the cause is sure and the Spirit will bear witness to the truth, and those who live the truth will know
the hope and the joy of discipleship in the community of Christ. Amen.
W. GRANT MCMURRAY
PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH
INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI
APRIL 4, 2000
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