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Journal of the Swedenborgian Church 2020 Journal of the Swedenborgian Church No. 198 THE SWEDENBORGIAN CHURCH UNITED STATES AND CANADA INCORPORATED 1861 THE GENERAL CONVENTION OF THE NEW JERUSALEM IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ANNUAL SESSION “20/20 SPIRITUAL VISION: TRANSCENDING TIME AND SPACE” JUNE 26 - JUNE 28, 2020 VIRTUAL CONVENTION HOSTED ON FACEBOOK LIVE ANNUAL THEME THE YEAR OF THE LORD JULY 1, 2019-SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 RECORDING SECRETARY KAREN CONGER 314 APOLLO CIRCLE BISHOP, CA 93514-7051 P: (760) 872-3392 E: [email protected] CENTRAL OFFICE BRITTANY PRICE, OPERATIONS MANAGER 50 QUINCY STREET CAMBRIDGE, MA 02138-3013 P: (617) 969-4240 F: (833) 843-3611 E: [email protected] W: www.swedenborg.org LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Oh, what a year! The 2020 Journal is different due to the COVID-19 pandemic that affected the annual session of Convention, the requirement for our churches to move to virtual services, and our camps not able to gather in-person, due to health safety concerns. It is important to produce an annual Journal because it is our legal record of the business and gather- ings for the year between our annual sessions. The decision to cancel the planned 2020 Convention in Bridgewater, Massachusetts due to the worldwide pandemic was made by the Executive Committee of General Council, March 2020. By that time it was evident we would be unable to gather in physical presence due to mandated travel restrictions and worldwide health concerns for potential transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Our denomination came up with a “virtual” process to gather as a sa- cred community to worship, learn, share, and participate in many aspects of a regular convention over the same weekend previously planned, June 26-28, 2020. Our theme was: 20/20 Spiritual Vision: Transcending Time and Space. As President, I officially opened Convention 2020 with the “opening of the Word”, welcome, and president’s address. We had a virtual parade of 36 ministries and offered a selection of mini-courses and worship ser- vices, including communion. The closing service included the formal “closing of the Word.” (See full report from the Secretary of Convention, page 45) This 2020 Journal has a report of our virtual convention, but no min- utes as business meetings were not held. Our governing constitution and bylaws at this time do not allow for conducting business virtually, there- fore we did not have business meetings or elections. Churches, Associations and Committees sent in reports, although the timeline recorded varies. Elected members of boards and committees have extended term limits because there were no elections. The decision was made by ExCom of General Council and confirmed by the General Council that the virtual convention session in 2020 was officially The One Hundred Ninety Sixth Session of The Swedenborgian Church of North America, and should be recorded as such. Rev. Jane Siebert, President 1 THE FAITH AND AIMS OF OUR CHURCH The Swedenborgian Church believes that a new epoch is opening in the spiritual life of mankind. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, as he promised to do, has come again, not indeed in a physical reappearance, but in spirit and truth; not in a single event only, but in a progressive manifestation of his presence among people. Our Church regards as tokens of his coming the burst of scientific de- velopment, the rise of the spirit of inquiry, the progress toward political and intellectual free- doms, and the deepening sense of a national and international responsibility which have characterized the last few centuries. These are more remote signs, however, of epochal reli- gious change. More directly denoting a move- ment of the spirit of God on the human spirit are the stirrings in world faiths, the revisions of thought and outlook in them, the searching after standards and spiritual power adequate to the needs and problems of the times, and this notably in the Christian faith. The Lord is everywhere at work, mov- ing to the reestablishment of his kingdom, and specifically to the renewing of Christianity with the power and understanding to serve and speed his kingdom. In any coming of the Lord, he brings about many things which people are slow to see. Our unseen, spiritual environment is made over as well as our visible world. A greater awareness of the good that there has been, a fuller justice and truer peace offer themselves for us to realize. Today, in a world that has contracted into a neighborhood, the responsibility to the neighbor makes its demands on all people of good will. Evils that have been long established begin to look as though they could be conquered. We believe that the Lord in his second coming has “reordered the heavens and subjugated the hells” as he did at his first coming. This coming of the Son of man, “as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west,” making the salvation of all people possible, is the direct and sole work of the Lord—a redemption of the world by the Redeemer of persons. Our Church is also convinced that the Lord has given his followers word of all this, and done so by means of a servant from among them. We 2 believe that Emanuel Swedenborg thus served the Lord. A person’s destiny beyond the earthly life needed to be placed in fuller light; the Scriptures needed to be reestablished as the Word of God; and the Christian message was in need of renewed and contemporary expression. To supply these needs Swedenborg devoted half a lifetime, and an insight born of a regen- erating experience. He was enabled “by the Lord’s mercy” to inform the Christian hope of immortality with knowledge of the world of the spirit; in Old and New Testament he set forth a meaning which speaks timelessly of the spiritual life and can nourish it now; and he freed Christian teaching from many crippling errors and formulated it anew from the Word of God. In the theological works of Swedenborg the message of Christian- ity is restated to inspire the spiritual life of all anew. Its truths present themselves as truths of life here and hereafter. They invite inquiry and ask understanding. They open the door to spiritual renewal and urge upon everyone the personal responsibility to participate in this renewal. The Lord has taken initiative in his coming. We have our response to make. In that response three essentials are urged: that we acknowledge God in the Lord, and that he alone can bring about our redemption and regeneration; that we acknowledge the holiness of the Word and the inspiration which the Word gives us to seek and promote his kingdom; and that we live the life of charity, the exercising in all our relationships, large and small, the neighborliness enjoined by his commandments. The Swedenborgian Church believes, then, that under Providence the world has received, through the instrumentality of a man, a revelation which confronts it with the universally valid truth of the spiritual life of all human beings. It believes that the Lord Jesus Christ, availing himself of human agency to give us this explicit guidance, has done a sweeping if hidden work of redemption, and created a new heaven and a new earth about us. He is ushering in the epoch, if we will, which he foresaw and which he promised at his first coming. In John’s vision on Patmos, the Ris- en Christ once more promised the dawn of this epoch in the descent of the Holy City, New Jerusalem, to earth. To signalize our conviction that the Lord is fulfilling his promise, we originally organized under the name the Church of the New Jerusalem. The spirit and the humanity which longs to be united to the Lord alike cry, “Come.” We lift our voice and pray, “Come. Even so, come Lord Jesus.” Officers, Committes, Boards & Representatives 3 THE OFFICERS OF THE SWEDENBORGIAN CHURCH Rev. Jane Siebert, President Cell: (620) 727-2371 3110 N. Ridge Road, # 603 E-mail: [email protected] Wichita, KS 67205-1239 Kurt Fekete, Vice-President* Phone: (802) 345-0169 38 Great Falls Rd. E-mail: [email protected] Gorham, ME 04028 Karen Conger, Recording Secretary Phone: (760) 872-3392 314 Apollo Circle E-mail: [email protected] Bishop, CA 93514-7051 Jennifer Lindsay, Treasurer Phone: (415) 706-6155 601 Carolina Street E-mail: [email protected] San Francisco, CA 94107 GENERAL COUNCIL The General Council consists of the Officers of the Swedenborgian Church and the elected members listed below. (Constitution, Article II, Section 2.) The chair of the Council of Ministers is also an ex- officio member with vote on the General Council (Constitution, Article II, Section3). Numbers in parentheses are the terms currently being served for the positions so indicated, persons are limited to two consecutive three-year terms. Those fulfilling unexpired terms are indicated by (*). Term Expires 2021 Term Expires 2022 Term Expires 2023 Lon Elmer (2) Rev. Jenny Caughman (1) Rev. Betsy Coffman (2) (206) 903-8043 (865) 482-9319 (937) 631-0899 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Barbara Halle (1) Stan Conger (2) Carl Helm (2) (219) 363-0528 (760) 872-3392 (620) 792-4295 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Rev. Thom Muller (*) Beki Greenwood (*) Susan Hulcher (1) (267) 351-0122 (413) 563-0091 (403) 585-4333 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] *Currently serving an unexpired term as interim as a result of the Vice-President resigning 4 Journal of the Swedenborgian Church, 2020 STANDING COMMITTEES (Constitution, Article II, Section 4 and Bylaws, Article X.) The President of the Swedenborgian Church serves ex-Officio without vote on all Standing Committees.
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