The New Church’s True Mission
To The Editors:
The question that Peter Boericke did not ask (letter, “A Wake-Up Call: Will
the General Church Survive and Thrive?” New Church Life, May-June, 2015)
is: “Are the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Writings for the New
Church (through Emanuel Swedenborg) the Divine Word of God?”
Of course, my personal answer is yes!
Well then, what better action could the Bishop of the General Church take
than to ask all of his ministers to go directly to the Word of God with all their
hearts and minds, to study what is written there regarding the role of women
in the priesthood, and give him their most careful written and verbal counsel?
(See “Statement About Gender and Clergy,” by the Rt. Rev. Brian W. Keith,
New Church Life, November-December, 2014.)
With prayer for guidance from the Lord Himself (that is, from the Divine
Word itself) and months of exacting counsel from the Lord’s most dedicated
disciples living today, could there be any wiser guidance, in Providence, than
that rendered by Bishop Keith?
Mr. Boericke did ask a lot of questions. First, he said that women in the
priesthood may be the most passionate and central issue of our time. Then he
asked: What is the vision for the General Church? Why aren’t young adults
joining the General Church? Is General Church membership growing? Is the
General Church addressing the relevant issues of the day? Are the General
Church and its educational endeavors financially sustainable? What has
become of previously abundant New Church print media?
At first, these seem like fair questions, but with more deliberation it seems
that they are primarily concerned with growth and other secular matters.
Certainly temporal questions need to be addressed if we are to best fulfill our
mission. But what is our true mission?
Mr. Boericke’s answers to his own questions seem to focus on the
unwillingness of the General Church leadership to adapt itself to current
events, practices and what is politically acceptable. I think he may feel that
if only we would adapt our approach to make it more “in tune” with worldviews, we could reverse all the negative-growth statistics. He’s probably right!
It seems like, if we don’t “give in,” our beloved General Church will die!
But isn’t that just the point of the New Church? It is new! Isn’t
“accommodating” our approach counter-productive to the Lord’s message?
Surely our reason for existence is to firmly share all the truths now revealed
by the Lord. Didn’t the Lord direct us to go forth and preach the Gospel to all
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