new church life: jan uary / february 201 4
girls are disillusioned with what the New Church has to offer.
Once this is accomplished we will go back to Conjugial Love and the theses
from Kay and Hilary. Our desire is to create a written work – keeping the
Johns-Mabaso book in the back of our minds – that covers our goals:
• Weaving what we have learned into the curriculum
• Teaching and educating our faculty, both new and seasoned, what we
need to teach all girls regarding Conjugial Love, having relationships,
and the nature of their femininity
• On-going surveys; we need to know what is working and what isn’t.
These surveys would be administered one, five and 10 years out. We
want what we are doing to make a difference. We need to know what
works and what doesn’t, and make changes where there is a need.
We in the Girls School are in the business of helping to raise girls. We want
to help them grow into caring, compassionate, kind women, who are morally
grounded and spiritually motivated. We want them to know early on that they
can have a wonderful and fully working relationship with the Lord, and that
He really is there for them. I believe we are on the right track, and that through
this study and what comes out of it we can help our girls live lives that they can
be proud of as fully functioning New Church women.
Sue Odhner graduated from the Academy Girls School in 1973 and
from Bryn Athyn College of the New Church – after raising her family
– in 1995. She joined the Girls School faulty then, teaching history,
English and The Formative Years. She has been Principal of the Girls
School since 2007 and is working on her master’s degree at Arcadia
University. She and her husband, Greg, have four grown children and
two grandchildren.
[email protected]
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