Boynton Beach Retreat 2015
Bruce Henderson
T
his year’s Boynton Beach Retreat, January 18-22, featured four sessions
each by the Rev. Dr. Thane P. Glenn, Dr. D. Gregory Rose and the Rev.
Jeremy F. Simons. Their presentations are summarized below.
Thane Glenn is Chaplain of Bryn Athyn College, where he teaches both
English and Religion.
Greg Rose spent many years in the U.S. Air Force as an intelligence officer
specializing in the Middle East, and taught at the U.S. Air Force Academy
before coming to Bryn Athyn College to teach political science and history.
Jeremy Simons retired as pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church, and now
serves as Chaplain at the Bryn Athyn Cathedral.
Their presentations were prepared independently but serendipitously
offered something of a theme.
Thane spoke about Unity and Difference in the New Church – how we are
all different but bring a sense of unity and belonging in our differences, and
how much of the strength of the Church is in “holding differences lightly.”
Greg, who had spoken at the retreat four years ago on Islam and Islamism,
brought a different angle with the topic of Culture and Politics: Arab and
American – the things that distinguish and often divide us. Again, the theme
was appreciating and understanding our differences so that we can have a
balanced perspective.
Jeremy focused on the historic strategies of the General Church – how
and why it broke with Convention and its Blueprint for Success in a challenging
world. An underlying theme here, too, was overcoming differences in pursuit
of unity.
Rev. Dr. Thane Glenn
Unity and Difference in the New Church
As part of placing unity and difference in
context, Thane noted that all of us are different
in the Church but love a sense of belonging and
connectedness – of unity.
140