Council of the Clergy
Meetings 2015
The Rev. Kenneth J. Alden
M
ore than 90 priests from around the world attended the General Church
international clergy meetings June 23 - 27 in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.
Most ministers, some with their wives, exchanged warm greetings at the open
house and supper hosted by the Executive Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Brian W. Keith,
and his wife, Gretchen, in their home on Monday evening. Those on the
Bishop’s Consistory and Advisory had met earlier in the afternoon.
The meetings officially opened with a worship service led by the Bishop
in the Dining Hall on the Academy of the New Church Secondary Schools
campus, which was also home to our plenary sessions for the week. Bishop
Keith read from Psalm 37, in which David, from the midst of his many
troubles, remarkably urged “trust in the Lord and do good.” Together with a
reading from Spiritual Experiences 4692:2 on the way the Lord’s leading can
seem random, and another from Arcana Coelestia 2572:3 on the way those in
the good of doctrine see as from a tower, Bishop Keith reflected on how the
Lord leads those who strive to live by what He teaches.
The first order of business was to act on the report of the Membership
Committee, presented by the Rev. Grant H. Odhner, chairman. The following
were welcomed as full members in the Council of the Clergy: from Côte
d’Ivoire – Aime Dayoro and Gedeon G. Gnagne; from Kenya – Fred Onsiro
Ang’asa, Emanuel Wanjala Juma and George Omosu Magero; from Norway
– Thomas Floyd; and from the United States – Brett Buick, Jared Buss, Joel
Glenn and Michael Cowley. Additionally, Eduardo Berith, from Brazil, was
recognized as a general member; and Martie Johnson, from the United States,
was removed from membership.
The Gift of Free Will
The first speaker was the Rev. Daniel W. Goodenough. His paper, “Love’s
Highest Goal, Divine and Human,” focused on the Lord’s gift of free will and
the feeling that life is our own, which is so essential that He never takes it away.
469