The Model for Small Groups in the Church
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A bimonthly magazine devoted to the teachings revealed through Emanuel Swedenborg, as they apply to life. JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016 The Model for Small Groups in the Church This image of the Lord teaching the elders in the temple as a young boy relates both to a sermon by the Rev. Michael D. Gladish, The Growth of the Lord, (page 9), and an article by the Rev. John L. Odhner on the history and promise of Small Groups in the New Church, (page 33). (The image, courtesy of the General Church Office of Education, is by the late Marguerite L. Acton.) Note: There is no extra cost for the use of color on the front page. new church life (usps 378-180) published bimonthly by the general church of the new jerusalem Bruce Henderson, Editor Rev. Walter Orthwein, Spiritual Editor subscription: $30 to any address. To order: 267-502-4990 or [email protected]. Postmaster: Send address changes to: New Church Life, PO Box 708, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009 e-mail: [email protected] Vol. MMXVI January/February 2016 No. 1 New Church Life A bimonthly magazine devoted to the teachings revealed through Emanuel Swedenborg, as they relate to life. 1 In this Issue 4 Editorials: On Young People Leaving the Church • But What Can We Do? • The Case for Optimism 9 The Growth of the Lord – A Sermon by the Rev. Michael D. Gladish 15 Contempt or Rebellion on the Way to Maturity – A Sermon by the Rt. Rev. Peter M. Buss Sr. 20 Looking Down on Others – A Children’s Talk by the Rt. Rev. Peter M. Buss Sr. 23 Memorial Address for Dr. Sherri R. Cooper – The Rev. Dr. Jonathan S. Rose 33 Small Groups in the New Church – The Rev. John L. Odhner 48 Episcopal Visit to Brazil – The Rt. Rev. Brian W. Keith 53 Two Kinds of Zeal – The Rev. Dr. Ray Silverman 60 Islam, Swedenborg and the Heavenly Doctrines – Benjamin Pendleton 70 Gifts from the Lord – Joseph S. David 74 Church News 89 Life Lines 100 Announcements New Church Life is online at www.newchurchlife.org, with issues archived back to 2006. All issues of New Church Life can be searched back to 1881 at www.heavenlydoctrines.org. In This Issue n a post-Christmas sermon the Rev. Michael D. Gladish looks at The Growth Iof the Lord – what happened in His life on earth after He was first presented in the temple at Jerusalem. How much was He human, like any other young child, and how was He different because of His divinity? How did He grow and learn? And how was He tempted? Mr. Gladish says: “He knew He would overcome all these challenges. What was in question was whether we would accept and benefit from His work. In short, let us remember that His whole life right from birth was all about just one thing: helping us find our way to our ‘place’ in heaven.” (Page 9) The Rt. Rev. Peter M. Buss Sr. looks at the story of Hagar and Ishmael for insight into the development of the rational in a sermon, Contempt or Rebellion on the Way to Maturity. The story “reflects the rebelliousness of every generation against the wisdom of the past,” but, he notes: “The message – for us and our children – is not to be too scared of the Ishmael quality. In truth it is not meant to linger in us forever. But it is a stepping stone.” (Page 15) In a children’s talk in conjunction with his sermon on Hagar and Ishmael, Bishop Buss offers a cautionary message onLooking Down on Others. We are all born with special talents, he told the children, but also are not as good as others in some things. The lesson is never to look down on anyone but to look for what is special in each person and celebrate that. (Page 20) In a memorial address for beloved Bryn Athyn College professor Dr. Sherri Rumer Cooper, the Rev. Dr. Jonathan S. Rose celebrates the way that her great love of science was fulfilled by her faith – especially as her lifelong faith was “clarified” when she discovered the New Church. “Scientific truth was extremely important to Sherri but was enhanced by being in balance with spiritual truth; and both kinds of truth shone the most in the presence of love.” (Page 23) Small group study may seem a new thing in the Church, but the Rev. John L. Odhner says it really has a long history, going back to the ancient churches. The new emphasis is a way to enhance normal worship practices and enrich the experience of personal spiritual journeys. There are a lot of ways to get involved – from the annual Journey Programs to the new Sunroom Groups. 1 new church life: january/february 2016 (See the article about Sunroom Groups by Kendall Hyatt in the September- October 2015 issue.) This article includes several testimonials about how small group involvement has transformed people’s lives. (Page 33) The Rt. Rev. Brian W. Keith reports on an episcopal visit to Brazil he made last fall with his wife, Gretchen. The New Church in Brazil still is developing but has its roots back in the 1800s. Bishop Keith traces the history then describes a very full visit that included an ordination, taping shows for a local television station, preaching, giving classes and conducting clergy meetings for all of the ministers growing the church there and helping to provide translations of the Writings. (Page 48. For photographs of the visit see pages 86-87) The Rev. Dr. Ray Silverman writes about two very different kinds of zeal we may experience – both heavenly and hellish – and the vital distinction between them. Zeal often is an expression of jealousy – but heavenly jealousy wants to defend what is sacred while hellish jealousy becomes bitter and angry when it doesn’t get what it wants. (Page 53) In response to an article four years ago in New Church Life on Swedenborg and Islam, Ben Pendleton examines Islam, Swedenborg and the Heavenly Doctrines. He considers such questions as what Swedenborg could have known about Islam and what access he might have had to the Quran, and closely compares statements from the Writings and the Quran. (Page 60) Joseph S. David humbly considers all the gifts we have from the Lord – most essentially in the marriage of His Divine love and Divine wisdom, and that “to represent that Divine marriage He made His creation reflect the duality of His love and wisdom, especially in the animal kingdom and most especially in the human race by creating us male and female.” And then He added the gift for each sex to be raised into the atmosphere of heaven, according to the complementary nature of their light and warmth. (Page 70) Church News (page 74) includes: • A new Dr. Sherri Rumer Cooper Research Fund established by Bryn Athyn College, and how you can contribute to it • The retirement of the Rev. Frederick C. Elphick as long-time chairman of the General Church Council in Great Britain • News about a European Assembly planned for 2017 • Memorial Resolutions for three true Sons of the Academy – Edward Franklin Allen Jr., H. Keith Morley and Col. B. Dean Smith • A comprehensive report on the Church in Asia • Plans for adding 11th and 12th grades at the Kempton (Pennsylvania) New Church School 2 in this issue • A New Church teen weekend for eastern Canada and the United States, held last fall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Appointment of the Rev. Mark D. Pendleton as the new pastor in Glenview, Illinois 3 Editorials on young people leaving the church The fact that fewer young people are joining the Church these days is cause for concern for all who love the Church and believe its continuing existence is vital to the spiritual health and well-being of the world. But the situation is especially sad for those who see their own children and grandchildren failing to connect with an institution which has been such a strong source of inspiration, meaning and joy for them in their lives. Chief among the various kinds of happiness we wish for our children is a spiritual life, based on the truths of the Lord’s Word. “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete,” the Lord said. (John 15:11) And He established the Church to preserve and teach and help us live by the things He has told us. The truths the Lord teaches in His Word constitute the “formula” for a happy life. No other plan of life works as well as the blueprint the Lord has given us in His Word. And no other agency is as successful in implementing that plan as the one the Lord Himself founded upon that Rock of Truth, that is, the Church. The whole history of the human race demonstrates the truth of that proposition. Again and again people fall for the notion that we’ve outgrown the need for the Ten Commandments, the seeds of all human wisdom, only to find that we haven’t. Then, after much hardship and sorrow, they are “rediscovered.” It’s an old, old story. But does living by the Ten Commandments necessarily require a church? It’s a big question, but in a word: yes. Civil law and social custom support the order of human existence from without, but apart from the spiritual influence of Divine truth from within, the outer order will be artificial, brittle, sterile and joyless.