new church life: march/april 2016
truth, heaven and hell, are several of
the subjects these students have a keen
interest in.
• The College in general has
gained experience and continues to
refine how to teach about the New
Church faith. The sessions conducted
earlier today [at the Retreat] by
Dr. Martha Gyllenhaal and Curtis
Childs showed evidence of how the
Church can be received by people
with diverse backgrounds. Young
adults are actually more open than
you might think to new thoughts
and concepts about religion. I have
personally had discussions with
students – particularly upperclassmen
– who go out of their way to tell me
how much they love the College and its environment. Many of these
students will also say they are members of another faith but they like this
“Swedenborg stuff.” Both the faculty and I believe that the Lord leads all
through providence and Bryn Athyn College for many will be the first
step in their religious journey.
• I would like to refer to a section in our Mission Statement where we
state that the College has a special opportunity to introduce religious
in tellectual thought by:
The College must take
great care to prepare
students for a career
and a life-long use. We
believe we can also make
career choices more
meaningful if we add a
sense of spirituality to
the careers our young
people plan to pursue.
“Pairing our courses into the intellectual inquiry of a strong liberal arts
education with spiritual inquiry rooted in the teachings of the New
Church. Students will explore this perspective in their religion courses,
and also see it reflected in every other course they take.”
This is indeed a process where we need to work continually to get better
but we must pause to see the progress made and the promise for future
success.
The Vision for the College
The College must take great care to prepare students for a career and a lifelong use. We believe we can also make career choices more meaningful if we
add a sense of spirituality to the careers our young people plan to pursue. The
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