An Interview with the Founder of Deborah's Tree
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Published by the Swedenborgian Church of North America Volume 247 • Number 2 • March 2023
An Interview with the Founder of Deborah’s Tree
By Jim Lawrence with Roslyn Taylor
Introduction the imagery of Deborah
Rev. Roslyn Taylor (or- sitting under her tree, we
dained in 2018) has led a envision Swedenborgian
house church ministry for women sitting still under
the better part of two de- our collective palm tree,
cades in Bryn Athyn, Penn- speaking our truth togeth-
sylvania. Most recently she er from our own female
has initiated a non-prof- perspectives. The descrip-
it organization called Deb- tion of “Deborah, the great
orah’s Tree, which in the mother of Israel” rising up,
words of its website, “pro- and her orders to “Awake,
vides spiritual resources Deborah! Rise up! Rise Up!
and educational materials Break out in song!” inspire
in a variety of media with- us to actively arise and
in the Swedenborgian theological and organization that aims to promote the wake up and sing our own song. Our
spiritual movement, focusing primari- work of female Swedenborgian and intention is to actively live our own
ly on the work of female authors, schol- New Church scholars, writers, clergy, spirituality and to share joyfully what
ars, clergy, and artists. It serves the and artists through our website (www. we have learned together, both within
Swedenborgian movement worldwide deborahstree.org), social media, and our global Swedenborgian community,
by bringing balance through lifting up events. Our board consists of Pastor and within the wider female spiritual-
the voices of Swedenborgian women.” Robbin Ferriman, Rev. Julie Conaron ity community.
The many branches of Deborah’s Tree and myself, our IT Consultant is Liz
have been growing with voices, activ- Kufs, and we have several volunteers JL: What programs and activities
ities, and contributions. For readers from within the wider Swedenborgian/ does Deborah’s Tree offer?
of the Messenger, I held the following New Church faith community, who RT: Our Spiritual Inspiration program
conversation with Rev. Taylor to bring generously share their talents with us. consists of fortnightly Excerpted Inspi-
greater awareness to this organization’s The name comes from the Biblical rations, monthly Spiritual Quotes, and
life and work. Deborah, a female prophet and judge weekly Spiritual Reflection videos. The
who guided the Israelite nation while Excerpted Inspirations are nuggets of a
Jim Lawrence: What is Deborah’s seated under a palm tree. She led them spiritual nature from literature mostly
Tree, and why is it named Deborah’s into a successful battle, which ensured by female authors, or by male authors
Tree? peace for forty years. A whole chapter who write about strong female charac-
Roslyn Taylor: Deborah’s Tree is a in the Hebrew Scriptures (Judges 5) is ters. The Spiritual Quotes are from the
ministry that I started as a “pandem- dedicated to “The Song of Deborah” Word, Swedenborg, and other wisdom
ic project.” It’s a non-profit religious about her success and leadership. From
Continues on page 28
Dear Martha: Letters to My Church • New Church Visionaries Lecture Series •
What’s Inside: Convention Keynote Announcement and Donation Request •
CSS Virtual Education for the Planet • And More!
18 the Messenger March 2023
Contents Church Calendar t he Messen ger
• July 1–5, 2023: Annual Convention, © The Swedenborgian Church of North America
Deborah’s Tree Interview............................. 17 Published monthly except two combined issues
Bridgewater, Massachusetts by the Standing Committee for Communication
Editor’s Corner................................................ 18
and Information of the Swedenborgian Church of
Message from the President...................... 19 • July 22–30, 2023: Almont Summer
North America (founded 1817, incorporated 1861
Dear Martha: School, Allenton, Michigan as the General Convention of the New Jerusalem
in the United States of America), Rev. Jane Siebert,
Letters to My Church............................. 20 • July 29–August 13, 2023: Fryeburg New president.
Convention Keynote Church Assembly, Fryeburg, Maine March 2023
Announcement....................................... 22 Volume 247, No. 2 Whole Number 5480
• August 24–27, 2023: Gathering Leaves,
New Church Visionaries Editor, design, and production: Rebekah
Lecture Series........................................... 23 Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania Greenwood
Copy editing and proofing: Robert Leith, Brittany
Year of Regeneration.................................... 24 Price, Emily Woofenden, Herb Ziegler, & Trevor
Donate to Convention................................. 25 Standing Committee for Communication and
What’s Your Story?......................................... 26 Information: Holly Bauer, Rev. Kevin Baxter, & Tara
Conkling
CSS Virtual Education:
Editorial Advisory Committee: Dr. Rebecca
Seeing Rainbows..................................... 28 Esterson, Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence, & Herb Ziegler
Engaged Swedenborgianism.................... 29 Printing: FenwayGroup, Boston, MA
Passages............................................................ 30 Email: messenger@swedenborg.org
What’s Happening......................................... 31 Editorial, Business, and Subscription Address:
The Messenger, Central Office
If You Know a Song, Sing It........................... 32 50 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617.969.4240
Editor’s Corner Email: manager@swedenborg.org
Subscriptions: free online subscription at
My partners in planning, super moms Nicole
https://swedenborg.org/subscribe/. Printed and
(left), myself, and Rachele (right). mailed to US address, $25/year; to Canada address,
The Life of $30/year; to all other addresses, $40/year; single
Religion is to Do use, it to use anything within my skill copies, $3.00, libraries & prisoners, free. Send
check made out to “Swedenborgian Church” with
Good set to help with activities that my chil- “Messenger” on the memo line. Other requests,
write or call Central Office.
dren are involved in. This year I took
What we love Submissions are accepted at any time.
on helping plan a large basketball tour- Submissions must be received by the third
constitutes our life,
nament that supports the youth bas- Monday of the month to be considered for the
and whatever we next issue.
ketball programs here in my home-
love we not only The opinions and views expressed are those of
town. Due to the pandemic, this tour- the authors, not of the Messenger, the Standing
do freely but also Committee for Communication and Information,
nament hadn’t been able to happen or the Swedenborgian Church.
think freely. So we
since 2020. Most of the people who
say that life is doing good things because
had been involved in the planning pre- Church related or not, when I am
doing good things is inseparable from
viously had kids who aged out, so we using my skills, and feeling useful, it
thinking good things. Life §1
practically had to start fresh. Since I feels good and right. Living a life of re-
I’ve been reflecting on my work on have over twenty years of event plan- ligion by doing good.
the Messenger over the last three years. ning experience, I felt that I needed to I invite you to share things that you
It still feels like I am the new editor, step up and help. How different could do that make you feel that you are liv-
but this issue will make number thir- planning a five-day basketball tourna- ing a life of use outside of church.
ty-two that I’ve created for you. How ment be than planning a wedding or a —Beki Greenwood
is that even possible? I love what I do, two-week camp? And it really wasn’t. Messenger@Swedenborg.org
and for me if feels like the best possible (Honestly, it was almost easier since
way that I can be of use to our church. there were no dietary needs involved!)
I often feel like it is what I am meant So, I teamed up with two other super
to be doing. I give a lot of my time to moms and we organized and success-
working on the things that I love. Be- fully brought back one of the largest
ing of use to the church is just one of fundraisers in the town. It was an ex- Follow
those things. hausting learning experience, but we the Messenger
One of the other ways I like to be of were doing good—and that felt good. on Facebook!
the Messenger March 2023 19
Message from the President
How Do We Practice?
The Year of Regeneration: 2022–23
N
ew inquirers into the on living skills launched in
Swedenborgian move- the General Church, and Da-
ment often ask what vid Millar in the Australian
the spiritual practices are. How church has designed and ini-
should I meditate or pray? What tiated Logopraxis as a specifi-
kinds of ritual should I build cally Swedenborgian spiritual
into my lifestyle? What are the practice.
dietary guidelines? Through- I’ve enjoyed working with
out the long beginning of the Swedenborg’s mysterious “Four
Swedenborgian movement Rules of Life” as a basis for spir-
across 150 years or so, the pri- itual practice. They are myste-
mary spiritual practice specific rious in the sense that they be-
to Swedenborgianism involved came part of New Church his-
study and discussion groups of tory because Swedenborg’s eulo-
Swedenborg’s writings along gist at his memorial service, his
with going to church. Starting young colleague from the Roy-
in the seventies, however, new al Academy of Sciences, Samu-
approaches to spiritual practice el Sandels, claimed to have seen
evolved in a distinctive fashion. This was the time of them scribbled in several places in his notebooks, but
the Western cultural revolution with the rise of ap- no one else has ever seen them. Nonetheless, they
plied psychologies, Eastern religion meditation prac- have become part of Swedenborgian lore.
tices, spiritual pilgrimages, communitarian move-
ments, and numerous new religions emphasizing The four rules are usually given in this way:
radical lifestyle commitments. • To often read and meditate on the Word of God
In Swedenborgianism, renowned psychologist • To submit everything to the will of divine provi-
Wilson Van Dusen’s popular writings highlight- dence
ed practices for personal experience as he encour- • To observe in everything a propriety of behavior
aged people to become mystics. Peter Rhodes in the and to keep your conscience clear
General Church developed a popular group practice • To discharge with fidelity your functions of em-
structure for spiritual growth called AIM that in- ployments and to make yourself in all things use-
tegrates Swedenborgian ideas with weekly exercises ful to society
done by the whole group. Retreat center programs As a spirituality studies professor at Pacific School
focusing on practices emerged, especially with the of Religion who has taught the history of Christian
Stonehouse in Seattle and Temenos near Philadel- spiritual practices, I realized that Swedenborg’s Four
phia. More recently, the Journey program focusing
Continues on page 22
20 the Messenger March 2023
Dear Martha: Letters to My Church
By Sage Cole
In March 2022, I declared a New you love me, and I know that love is Jesus to be here in the flesh. I need to
Church Jubilee at the Cambridge stronger than death. share some things that have been go-
Swedenborg Chapel, feeling a call I I believe that a lot of other people ing on with me. Some spiritual regen-
could not ignore to re-evaluate how we love me Martha, but with you I know eration things. From many perspec-
were and were not living into the full- it. There is something that we have tives Good News things but from the
ness of Swedenborg’s vision of the new shared, a common presence, an uncon- inside, things messy and scary and un-
church. This led to a sabbatical during ditional acceptance, an honesty. Your certain. I feel like I am seeing and ex-
which time I wrote a series of letters to willingness to ask me how it was fac- periencing things about myself, about
my church, i.e., all of you. Needing to ing life in the small town of Fryeburg, the world, about creation and existence
ground what I wanted to share in real Maine, as a single lady pastor, gay di- itself that I haven’t known before and
life, and real relationship, I composed vorcee, living alone in that huge par- more importantly that I haven’t lived
these letters to Martha Richardson one of sonage, and your loving confidence before. I am feeling real love Martha,
the beloved matriarchs of the Fryeburg that I would find the love, the connec- like I have never known before. And I
New Church, allowing the love I feel for tion that I yearned for. And your will- am seeing, painfully, how much not-
her, and I know she feels for me, and that ingness to be honest with me about the love, I and my friends, and my fam-
I pray and hope we all share, to guide my joy and confusion of your own walk ily, and my church and the world are
words. Martha and I have shared them through life, the imperfect perfection living in, and it is breaking my heart
and now I share them with all of you. of the journey. open to the point where I am not sure
I pray they may be received in the same if this process will end in regeneration
spirit of love and hope that they were I feel a desire, a need, or mental breakdown.
written. —Rev. Sage Cole a calling, to report in So, I’m scared Martha. And I’m ex-
completeness what I have cited. And I think you will understand.
“Dear Martha: Letters to My experienced over these last I am writing this letter to you first, and
Church” is available in full at: then with your permission I plan to
tumultuous years, within
https://revsage.blogspot.com share it with our larger church family.
which God ordained I would Martha I am aware that in address-
Dear Martha, enter mid-life, while raising ing this letter to you I am right from
I hope so much that this letter finds small children, in the middle the get-go breaking one of the first car-
you well, and that sitting down to hear of a Global Pandemic while dinal rules of ministry etiquette; to sin-
from me is making you smile. I know serving a church that is near gle out or favor any one member of the
that your health is up and down and death. church. This is a no-no.
that you may not be here on this phys- I want to take my boys down to
ical plane of existence all that much Martha, I know you know me, and I Plymouth, Massachusetts, and have
longer. In some ways I fear address- know that you love me, and our shared lunch with one of the members of a
ing this letter to you, like I am tempt- knowing is grounded in our common church that Ted used to serve, who has
ing fate just a bit. Will I complete it in enterprise of being the church togeth- made her way up to Cambridge several
time for you to read it? In time for you er. I am writing this letter to you Mar- times to attend our Taizé services at the
to respond? tha because I need to say some things Swedenborg Chapel, who I have now
But I’ve decided that you would to you and to our church. I need to befriended. She’s so kind and we want
agree that in the scheme of eternity share some things that I have come to to take the boys to see Plimouth Plan-
it doesn’t really matter all that much. know, that have been exalting me, and tation, and maybe eventually I’ll con-
That one way or another, if I write you weighing on my heart and that there vince him, but he feels it is complicat-
a letter, you will read it. Whether you hasn’t been space to share in the cur- ed, that it would break this ministry
are here in this world sitting in your rent structure of this organization, in etiquette rule of not favoring a mem-
recliner on Stanley Hill or gallivanting the forms of expression available to me. ber of the church.
about in heaven, you will get the mes- I need to write this letter to you, I totally understand the foundation
sage. I know this because I know that maybe in the same way we needed Continues on page 21
the Messenger March 2023 21
Letters to My Church would be an inner experience of com- is at the heart of all of the universe and
Continued from page 20 ing into the light, living with integrity, all people, that we are each simply the
authenticity, where our internal experi- most externalized form of this larger
of this rule of course. It’s a good rule. ence and external expression would be power, cells in a larger organism, to-
As a new pastor you don’t want to unified, where what is internal is ex- tally at one with the whole. That we
have the old pastor of a church main- posed for all to see. each carry an essential sameness, and
taining strong emotional bonds with There is a kind of exposure happen- the differences that we experience, that
those who are now your parishioners. ing all over the place in our world at we often see first and focus on are only
That can be very messy. But rules or this moment, as we create Facebook the most external level of things, hard-
no, while this letter is really for the pages, and as influencers video tape ly real at all.
whole of my church family, it’s help- and expose a version of their life, an Martha, I believe we have known,
ful for me to address it to you because edited version certainly, but with much and continue to know each other on
I don’t want what I have to say to float more information and detail than we this most essential level. I believe you
away from the earth into preachy the- ever would have known about another are one of the wise ones, who has
oretical concepts. I want to speak di- person before. known and loved most if not all of the
rectly to you and through you to my people and life that has intertwined
church. My church is not a set of by- It has been a time. And I with yours in your journey of life on
laws or theological suppositions but am changed. Like our fair this essential level. Sure, you have
people, fleshy people like you Martha seer Swedenborg, I feel rolled your eyes, you have been furi-
who try to love one another and God compelled to share “What ous, and off put, and deeply confused,
and this thing we define as church that but only at the actions on the surface,
I have seen, what I have
we do together. never degrading the ultimate value and
heard, and what I have felt. worthiness of anyone.
I feel a desire, a need, a calling, to
report in completeness what I have ex- I’m writing to you Martha because I
perienced over these last tumultuous This movement towards exposure, am coming to awaken to this essential
years, within which God ordained I towards truth-telling, while sometimes oneness, this realm of love and alive-
would enter mid-life, while raising (maybe oftentimes) shallow, seems to ness that is always okay. This beating
small children, in the middle of a glob- me to be in line with what Swedenborg heart of “life” within which there are
al pandemic while serving a church prophesied was going to come to be. no such distinctions. Where all of the
that is near death. And it is a movement that I feel com- labels, all of the stories of distinction,
Martha, it has been a time. And pelled to take part in, and that I feel of past and future, of right and wrong,
I am changed. Like our fair seer is vitally needed in the collective en- holy and profane, fall away, and I’m
Swedenborg, I feel compelled to share terprise of being the church that we just this being alive, awake, free, free
“What I have seen, what I have heard, are engaged in. That the only way to to respond to the moment in freedom
and what I have felt.” I feel moved by reclaim the truth of our oneness, of as I wish.
the invitation of the latest great one of the common life that we share, is to In the beating heart of life, I’m no
our tradition the Rev. Dr. George Dole be more honest in sharing the diverse longer Sage Cole, no longer minister or
who reminded us in what would be his ways we experience this oneness. That white lady, no longer an American Cit-
farewell address “The New Church,” keeping things hidden or believing izen, or a member of Gen-X, no lon-
submitted to the Messenger just six days that there is one certain way of being ger someone who is educated, or some-
before he made his full transition into that we are all meant to conform to is one having a bad hair day. I could add
the spiritual world that there “can be totally off base in our efforts to enter so many adjectives to this list of de-
no pretense in the new church, no ex- the new church. scriptions and roles that I use to define
ternal that is at odds with its internal.” What is becoming clearer to me is who I am, descriptions my sense of self
As you know Martha, one of the es- that everything is the same at heart. seeks to hide from and descriptions my
sential messages Swedenborg sought to That “life,” that which pulses through sense of self seeks to take pride in. And
convey about the new church was that the universe, that which lives between yet there is a growing awareness in me
this would not be about a new form of us as love, is in its essence one sub- that none of these descriptors are sol-
understanding or practice or dogma, stance, a substance that is filled with id, they don’t fully describe or effect
but a new way of living life. That be- potentiality and power and relation- who I essentially am. Should just a
coming a member of the new church ship and creativity and love. That this Continues on page 22
22 the Messenger March 2023
beliefs and stories that are not real. Message from the President
Letters to My Church
Continued from page 22 That are not only not real but incred- Continued from page 19
ibly violent and destructive to my well-
few circumstances change, or a zom- being and the wellbeing of all those Rules encapsulate two important prac-
bie apocalypse unfold, all of the mea- with whom I am in a relationship. I tices rooted in a far-back history that
sures by which I judge my value and am also becoming aware of how the have become newly popular in our
the value of others, what and who is church structure that we belong to and time: Lectio Divina and the Ignatian
useful, who deserves respect, would all serve, while not central to perpetuat- Examen. The Four Rules lend a won-
change in an instant. The framework ing these false and violent narratives, derful framework for translating these
of my self-understanding would totally doesn’t always contradict them either, popular practices into a specifically
collapse and need to be rebuilt for dif- is often instead complicit. Swedenborgian spiritual practice.
ferent circumstances. What a wonder Martha as my experience of God Over some months of trial-and-er-
that we can do that?! And when our has deepened and grown, I want every- ror practice, I shaped a daily spiritual
sense of self is in this process of being thing I do to be grounded in the truest, practice that has turned out to be the
rebuilt, what still essentially remains? fullest, most expansive view of the Holy most helpful practice I’ve ever attempt-
My sense of self has been collapsing I can muster, and I fear that too many ed. In case it might be of interest to
Martha, over these last three years. My of the narratives of our church organi- readers, I have written about the back-
confidence in the way I believe things zation are pointing to smaller versions ground of the mysterious Four Rules
“should” be done has gone right out of God that I now see as obstacles to and about their use as a daily prayer
the window. All my righteousness, all real spiritual growth, for myself and I practice, which you can find here:
my surly critiques have exploded in the imagine for others. I fear that our the- https://swedenborg.com/daily-spiritu-
face of what is. My mid-life turn to- ology, as expansive and transformative al-practice-based-swedenborgs-rules-
wards the downward slope of this ride as it can be, is held back in chains, in life/
of life, COVID-19, and being charged structures too small, beliefs and prac- —Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence
with spiritual leadership of a dying in- tices ineffective at conveying the full-
stitution has left me with not much ness of the power, the abundance and
Rev. Sage serves as pastor and director
to hold on to. And I believe I am not the rebirth that we are invited into.
of Swedenborg Chapel in Cambridge,
alone. I believe many others are com- So Martha, and all of you, my be- Massachusetts. In
ing to see that the stories we tell about loved church family, I offer up my 2018 she cast a
ourselves and each other, the catego- words to you as they are, seeking to vision to create The
ries we draw, are really quite mallea- speak the truth I have come to know to Helen Keller Center
for Spiritual Life at
ble, only powerful because we believe the best of my ability, hoping that in
the Chapel. Sage
in them so strongly, like the believing being honest about my story you might lives in Boston,
little children that power Santa Claus’s see the holiness of your story more Massachusetts with
sleigh. clearly, that I might help point the way her husband Ted and
I am becoming aware that I have to the Holy City that I want so much their two sons Theo
and Zach.
been controlled by a whole slew of to gather in with you. Love, Sage
Convention Keynote to be Delivered by Rev. Sage Cole
Saturday, July 1 at 7:30 PM ET
This event is planned to be live streamed for remote viewers
This year’s keynote speaker is Rev. Sage Cole, the founding visionary for the Helen Keller Spiritual Life Center at
the Cambridge Swedenborg Chapel adjacent to Harvard and Radcliffe where Helen was a college student. While at
Radcliffe, Helen wrote a thesis paper she continued to develop after graduation that became her book, Optimism.
Rev. Cole will bring a message of vision and hope that is inspired by the journey of this creative project.
the Messenger March 2023 23
Virtual Education Opportunities
Lecture Series: New
Church Visionaries
J oin us as we continue our seven-
part journey to learn about some
of the greatest visionary minds of the
New Church lineage. The influence of
Swedenborgian ideas and spirituality
has been one of enormous diversity and
dynamism. This free online lecture se-
ries is offered by the Helen Keller Spir-
itual Life Center, an initiative of the
Cambridge Society of the New Jerusa- of American religion.” Although he and hermeneutics. He is a graduate of
lem at Swedenborg Chapel, with gen- traveled extensively, this “Sage of Con- the Swedenborg School of Religion and
erous financial support from the Mas- cord” spent most of his life in the great- was ordained into the Swedenborgian
sachusetts New Church Union. er Boston area. Church of North America in 1984.
In 1826, Emerson was introduced He has pastored churches in Portland,
Ralph Waldo Emerson with to Swedenborg through Sampson Maine, and New York City, and served
Rev. Robert E. McCluskey Reed’s Growth of the Mind. Much like on the denomination’s Social Justice
April 7 at 7:00 PM ET William Blake before him, Emerson Committee. He also served for eigh-
maintained an abiding, if ambiguous, teen years as representative to the Na-
relation to Swedenborg’s ideas for the tional Council of Churches, with spe-
remainder of his life. Moving between cific attention to the work of social jus-
high praise and harsh criticism, Em- tice and religious freedom. He current-
erson demonstrated his own principle ly administers rites and sacraments at
of individualism, freedom, and the dy- Wayfarers Chapel near Los Angeles.
namic nature of thought and learning. Please visit the Swedenborg Chapel
As he famously noted, “Foolish consis- Facebook page for information on how
tency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” to attend these lectures via Zoom:
Rev. McCluskey’s lecture will brief- https://www.facebook.com/CSNJsc/.
ly examine Emerson’s life and consid-
Our third lecture will be offered er his philosophy and works. He will
by Rev. Robert E. McCluskey, who then turn to Emerson’s connection
will be discussing Ralph Waldo Em- to Swedenborg. Here the concepts of
correspondence, influx, freedom of
Upcoming Lectures
erson (1803–1882). A well-known
American essayist, lecturer, philoso- thought, and the primacy of personal All at 7:00 PM ET:
pher, abolitionist, and poet, Emerson experience over doctrine, will be exam-
was a leader in the creation of the tran- ined. The presentation on three works • May 5: Dr. Devin Zuber on
scendentalist movement of the mid- of Emerson: Nature (1836), The Tran- Ivan Aguéli
nineteenth century. He was seen as a scendentalist (1842), and Representative • May 19: Dr. Carl von Essen on
champion of individualism and a pre- Men (1850). William James
The Reverend Robert E. McCluskey • June 2: Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence
scient critic of the countervailing pres-
holds two degrees in philosophy: B.A. on John Chapman (Johnny
sures of society. His ideas were dissem-
(UMass, Boston) and M.A. (New Appleseed)
inated through dozens of published es-
School for Social Research, New York • July 7: Dr. Rebecca Esterson on
says and more than 1,500 public lec-
Immanuel Kant
tures across the United States. Harold City), with a focus on Greek philoso-
Bloom described him as “the prophet phy, modern idealism, existentialism,
24 the Messenger March 2023
The Year of Regeneration
Regeneration: The Great Becoming
Adapted from Theology for Theo-Therapy: A Swedenborgian Perspective
By Calvin Turley, Edited By Jim Lawrence
O
ur regeneration is the Ome- becoming. Other than God, every- creation. The journey through the six
ga Point of creation. The goal thing else becomes over time and over a days of regeneration involves “regener-
toward which all creation long process. In his science philosophy ating” many dimensions of our inner
moves is us. That’s a big statement, but tour de force First Principles of Natu- and outer selves (see Arcana Coelestia,
Swedenborg famously claimed, “The ral Things (1733) that gained him wide §7–66). Each “day” is a stage of spir-
Lord’s divine providence has as its end recognition in Europe, Swedenborg re- itual development: the process of be-
a heaven from the human race” (Di- marks that nothing becomes imme- coming a regenerated being involves
vine Providence, §27–45). That we diately and all at once what it can be- getting our loves right, our speech
might find joy, meaning, purpose, and come, except the Infinite itself” (First right, and our actions right.
usefulness in our life with others is the Principles, v. 5, 1). Making regener- The creation process is all about a
very reason anything (and everything) ated human beings through the free skillful and creative community of love
exists. will process requires some long and called heaven. The greater our sense of
Regeneration is not a smooth and hard doing. Gradual processes provide belonging to the heavenly community,
straightforward process, however, due the way for spiritual development and the greater becomes our awareness of
the critically necessary creation feature actualization. our personal distinctiveness. We are
called free will. Without free will, love each one of a kind. Our “becoming-
is a meaningless word. Free will means “When we have been ness” creates new life because we add
that all kinds of destinations might regenerated, we have a new functional value to the family of God.
be outcomes due to choices we make. will and a new intellect.”
Some systematic choices lead to des- True Christianity §601 Rev. Dr. Cal Turley (1919–1984) pastored
tinations quite far off the mark from Swedenborgian churches in Portland, Oregon,
the goal of creation. This drama of the This process of becoming is not and Seattle, Washington before completing a
wide range of what we can become simple at all, but rather must occur on doctorate at Claremont School of Theology,
after which he became professor of pastoral
should be a cause for hope rather than a great many levels and is a successively
care and counseling at the Swedenborg
anxiety because the enchanting key of progressive becoming because the job School of Religion in Newton, Massachusetts.
free will unlocks the true grandeur of is so big. The Swedenborgian “three He also maintained a psychotherapy practice
creation. The possibilities for becom- Rs”—repentance, reformation, and re- and served as President of the Swedenborgian
ing are infinite. generation—emerged in Swedenborg’s Church of North America. This article has
been adapted by
When Swedenborg was still work- later spiritual writings as the spiritual
Jim Lawrence from
ing as a philosopher of nature and sci- transformation process that must be language and ideas
ence and long before his first spiritu- repeated again and again in our dai- contained in Prof.
al theological work, he marveled at the ly living. Swedenborg began his long Turley’s doctoral
design of creation. He saw evolution as succession of spiritual books with this dissertation,
“Theology for
the form of all becoming with succes- big picture of a long unfolding when he
Theo-Therapy: A
sions in series and degrees opening up began with Genesis 1 and revealed the Swedenborgian
new spaces and capacities for further inner sense meaning of the six days of Perspective.”
“As long as we are alive in this world, we are held midway between heaven and hell and are kept in
a spiritual equilibrium there, which is free choice.”
True Christianity §475
the Messenger March 2023 25
Saturday, July 1st – Wednesday, July 5th 2023
Dear Swedenborgian Church Friends inflation. Costs continue to rise. Yet of this letter to link directly to the
and Colleagues, we very much wish to keep registra- PayPal account.
We are rapidly preparing for a won- tion fees as low as possible, subsidize • You can use Zelle to transfer mon-
derful annual convention in the Bos- costs for the youth to participate, pro- ey directly from your account to
ton area from July 1 – July 5 that will vide great music, and give you the best the Swedenborgian Church of
be hybrid in format again. We are virtual convention experience that we North America at accounting@
planning both a wonderful in-per- can. Live streaming our Mini Cours- swedenborg.org.
son setting at Bridgewater State Uni- es, worship services, ordination ser- • You can donate with a check made
versity and will provide robust tech vice, and business meetings has gener- out to “Swedenborgian Church of
support for virtual participation in ated a more full-bodied sense of pres- North America” with “Convention
key happenings. Co-hosted with the ence and connection throughout our 2023” in the memo. You can mail
Massachusetts New Church Union spiritual family. your check to:
(MNCU), the in-person setting is only Central Office
a few minutes from two of our histor- When you donate to the 2023 Swedenborgian Church
ic and beloved churches—Bridgewater Convention your money will go to: 50 Quincy Street
and Elmwood. The third church in the • Keeping the cost of attending con- Cambridge, MA 02138
MNCU, the Swedenborg Chapel in vention as low as possible for all Please email Operations Man-
Cambridge, has been working on the • Scholarships for children and youth ager Brittany Price at manager@
new Helen Keller Spiritual Life Cen- and underwriting other expenses to swedenborg.org with any questions.
ter, and in celebration of this project enable them to attend Thank you in advance for your do-
our convention theme this year is the • Supporting the music program nations and support for a special
visionary concept of “The Practice of • Supporting the technology needed Convention.
Optimism” that comes from Helen’s for a hybrid convention —Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence,
own spiritual writing. President, Swedenborgian Church of
We need your help in underwrit- We will most gratefully recognize North America
ing expenses. We all know about all givers! —Rev. Susannah Currie,
Chair, Council of Ministers
There are several ways to give.
Registration for Convention Instructions and links can be found Open the
will open in early spring. at swedenborg.org/donate: camera on your
Please visit swedenborg.org • You can donate online with a credit phone and scan
for updates as they become card by clicking the PayPal button this QR code to
available. (no PayPal account necessary) easily donate
• You can use the QR code at the end via PayPal.
26 the Messenger March 2023
What’s Your Story?
Sermon from January 1, 2023
By Gordon Meyer
H
ave you made any New Year’s God or cast ourselves out of heaven into Our minds are becoming crystal-
resolutions? I like to play eternal darkness and death, called the lized. It is difficult for someone whose
around with words, and I got lake of fire. Note that no one throws us mind is set in this way to change them-
to thinking about the word “resolu- out of heaven. We jump into the lake of selves. The more we practice the ac-
tions.” If we take the first syllable away, fire. (So be careful about telling some- tions of such a mind, the more rigid
we have the word “solutions.” Isn’t that one to go jump in the lake.) they become.
what resolutions really are? They are This is why it is so important to ex-
solutions we use to deal with a prob- We have already chosen amine ourselves and find the false ideas
lem we’ve identified about ourselves. our place in eternity by the we use to justify evil actions. Evil ac-
Resolutions can be revolutions. Rev- time we reach this so-called tions grow out of loving ourselves more
olution can be radical change, but it is judgment. We make the than others. This is basic Swedenborg.
also repetition; things that keep com- choice while we are living The disciple Peter was changed by
ing around. They revolve. What do here on the earth, writing his contact with the Lord. When the
you keep doing you wish you could our book. Lord renamed Simon, Peter, he was
quit doing? calling him a rock. Eventually Peter
Revolution also means to revolt. We have already chosen our place in became a rock star in the Christian
Making a resolution to revolt against eternity by the time we reach this so- world, but initially, he was just a rock,
something can lead to revelation. Try- called judgment. We make the choice a pretty dense rock.
ing to quit something can lead to new while we are living here on the earth, Peter was so convinced of his true
understanding. writing our book. faith and devotion to the Lord that he
That’s a revelation. It’s also how You’ve probably heard the phrase, swore he would never deny him. We all
temptation works in us. We are pre- “write your own ticket.” We all do that. know what happened. Faced with the
sented with choices and are tempted by The book we write is our ticket. Our possibility of suffering along with him
those choices. If we simply give in to destination is written there by the way at the time of Jesus’ arrest, Peter de-
temptation, we learn nothing and we we live. nied him not once, but three times. So
don’t change. We keep on becoming William Bruce, one of my favor- much for being a rock. He crumbled.
the kind of person we have been. ite commentators on the Bible, writes The rooster crowed and Peter saw
But choices can change us. We in his commentary on Revelation, in the light of the dawning day what
make choices all the time. Our New “The human mind itself is a book in a chicken he really was. He was dev-
Year’s resolutions are intended to help which every thought, word, and action astated by his lack of courage and saw
us have the determination to make bet- is written…. As an active power, the that he really had little faith. What did
ter choices. Each choice we make is like mind is just what it has become by the he do? He changed. He didn’t change
a sentence in the book of our life. The use or abuse of its faculties. Affections himself. He let the Lord lead him and
sentences fill up the pages and the pag- and thoughts are not things laid up in change him. He became the rock the
es make the chapters and one day we the mind, but states and forms of the Lord intended him to be, and in the
will leave these bodies and this earth, mind itself. scriptures, he is the disciple who repre-
and we will have written our life sto- These are capable of being modi- sents the good and truth of faith, what
ry. This is our book. Every one of us is fied or changed during the life of the a rock stands for.
writing his or her life story. body. After death they become fixed, We can’t change ourselves, but it
We are writing the books that the as if crystallized. This is the book of needs to seem to us that we are chang-
Bible refers to in Revelation. Our lives life that is opened at the judgment, and ing ourselves while actually the Lord is
are called a book. Depending on how from the records of which we are said changing us. We think we are writing
well our book matches up with God’s to be judged.”1 Continues on page 27
Book of Life spoken of in Revelation,
1 Commentary on the Revelation of St. John, 1906, p. 361
we either enter into eternal life with
by Rev. Wm. Bruce, 2nd Ed., London, James Speirs,the Messenger March 2023 27
What’s Your Story Deborah’s Tree Interview We’ve also started a blog, “The
Continued from page 26 Continued from cover Women’s Companion to Conjugial
Love.” Four female editors are tack-
our own book, and in one sense we are. traditions. Four female Swedenborgian ling the task of condensing the work
We decide what goes into the book. clergy are in a rotation to provide short of the women who completed a criti-
But the choices we make depend on Spiritual Reflection videos. All as- cal reading together of Swedenborg’s
our relationship with God. pects of the program are posted on book Conjugial Love, also known as
If we are turned to God, he writes our website, our Facebook page, and Marriage Love, and shared their re-
on our souls, and our books are love on Twitter. According to our online sponses to the text as women in the
stories. But if we turn from God, he analytics, engagement with all three is twenty-first century. Coming soon is
cannot write in our books because we consistently growing. We love it when a podcast in which we plan to have
have turned them away from God and our Swedenborgian friends share our women discuss topics of interest to the
hidden them from him, or tried to. posts to their own social media! Swedenborgian/New Church commu-
The things we write on our own are nity. The blog is also shared on social
stories filled with deceit, revenge and media, and the podcast will be as well.
spiritual death. No angel wants to read things in our books. God’s angels are In addition to our ongoing online
them, and they are shunned in heaven. there, too. They want us to write love activities, we have been holding hybrid
If we have written such a story when we stories, because that’s all they will read. in-person events twice a year with the
enter the world of spirits and encoun- What’s your story? Lord’s New Church congregation in
ter the angels who come to greet us, we In the book of Revelation, the seer Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. We are very
find ourselves in a world in which we John is commanded by the Lord to blessed to have had them partner with
cannot be happy, a world so foreign to write what he sees. Why does the Lord us, in support of our mission to lift up
us that we can’t even breathe the air. want it written? William Bruce says the voices and work of Swedenborgian
We turn and run and dive headlong that “Writing is confirmation. What is women. The first event was a Launch
into the lake of fire. written is settled and fixed.” Brunch at their lovely property, fol-
When I was a kid, my family spent When we leave this world, we lay lowed the next month by an art exhib-
the summers at our little cottage on down our pens. The writing has been it and talk by Eleanor Schnarr. We’ve
Porter’s Lake in central Wisconsin. We done. What we have chosen to relate to also held an online presentation about
had a short dock jutting into the lake in this world is what we continue to re- Logopraxis by Rev. Sarah Walker from
where we parked our rowboat. It was a late to in the spiritual world. Australia, a Silent Retreat and a (non-
small lake. There were no motorboats We do this by writing a love story silent) hybrid Day Retreat about Re-
allowed. It was primitive. I loved it. I with our lives. Nothing else will suf- sponding to Conjugial Love in the
used to go out on that dock at night fice. We must write about loving God twenty-first century. In addition, the
and look up at the stars. There were by showing that love to our neighbor. Deborah’s Tree community is always
millions of them, thick through the Our actions write the story. invited to attend the hybrid monthly
center of the Milky Way. We can’t see Go forth and write your story so Saturday Brunch, with a speaker, held
that scene living in the city. that when it is finished and your book by the Home Church in Bryn Athyn. I
In scripture stars represent ideas, is closed on this earth and opened in am happy to extend that invitation to
thoughts. Those stars in the Milky the world of spirits, it will be angels, all Swedenborgians who might want to
Way were like the millions of individu- not devils, who clamor to read your attend! Just contact me at hroslyntay-
al thoughts that run through a human story and welcome you into their com- lor@gmail.com.
mind in a lifetime. Those thoughts are munity with open
what form our minds. arms, surround- JL: Are there any group discussion
When you are out on your dock, ing you wit h spaces in Deborah’s Tree?
gazing into your nighttime sky, which God’s love. RT: We do not have any dedicated on-
stars are the brightest for you? Pastor Gordon Meyer line group discussion spaces at present
Remember the bumper sticker that is the Licensed Pastor for Deborah’s Tree. However, we do in-
said, “Don’t believe everything you at the Virginia Street teract with each other as a communi-
think!” Swedenborgian
ty, online and in person. Discussions
Church in Saint Paul,
There are evil spirits with us all the can emerge from comments on our
Minnesota.
time, trying to get us to write nasty Continues on page 2928 the Messenger March 2023
Virtual Education Offerings for the Planet
Seeing Rainbows: Queer Swedenborgians
and Queering Swedenborg
with Dr. Devin Zuber
Tuesdays, from 3:00 – 5:00 PM PT
April 11th – May 16th
T
his six-part free public semi- interconnected communities. Our
nar is built around of a set of Virtual Education Modules are free to
interrelated questions. How take and participate in, although pre-
can we constructively read the eigh- registration is required for access to
teenth-century theologies of Emanuel webinar and course materials. To date,
Swedenborg in ways that are affirming CSS has provided seven such Virtual
and supportive of LGBTQ+ persons? Education Offerings for the Planet and
Where in Swedenborg might we find engaged with hundreds of learners on
places for queer folk to feel themselves topics that have ranged from climate
supported and spiritually at-home? change to biblical exegesis, from an-
To query and “queer” Swedenborg re- gels, aliens, and apocalypse, to the re-
quires, firstly, firmly situating his ideas we will also be engaging in conver- ception of Swedenborg in the arts and
of gender and sexuality within their sation with contemporary LGBTQ+ literature. Attendees have zoomed in
eighteenth-century contexts that gave Swedenborgians whose ministries lie at from Europe, Asia, Africa, and from
shape and rise to his theology. Second- the intersection of queer identity and all over North America. Come join our
ly, the seminar aims to recover a sur- theological concerns. global conversation!
prising, untold story of how Sweden- Please note: this seminar is not an Dr. Devin Zuber is the George F.
borg’s ideas about gender and sexual- exercise in debating what Swedenborg Dole Professor of Swedenborgian Stud-
ity came to be subsequently received said (or didn’t) about homosexuali- ies at CSS in Berkeley, California,
by writers and artists, some of them ty, gender, or otherwise. Those who where he also serves at the Graduate
queer, in ways that were often uncon- are interested in such a debate should Theological Union as chair for the De-
ventional (and non-heteronormative). seek it elsewhere. This class will engage partment of Historical and Cultural
Here, we will attempt to trace a lineage practical and constructive theologies Studies. He has published widely on
of “queer readings” of Swedenborg in that are affirming of the experiences of art, literature, and Swedenborg’s influ-
figures such as the Romantic poet those in the LGBTQ+ community and ence on the nineteenth-century. Before
(and painter) William Blake, in nov- allies, through a full-spectrum lens on moving to California, Devin taught at
els by the French author Honoré de Swedenborgian theology and history. universities in Germany, and has held
Balzac (particularly his gender-bend- fellowships or visiting professorships at
ing Seraphita), in work by the Ameri- Virtual Educational Offerings for the British Library, Stockholm Univer-
can feminists Margaret Fuller and Julia the Planet sity’s Department for Aesthetics and
Ward Howe, as well as in the region- In the fall of 2020 in response to the Culture, and the Rachel Carson Cen-
alist fiction of the lesbian writer Sarah COVID-19 pandemic, CSS launched a ter for the Environment (LMU Mu-
Orne Jewett. We will also nod towards new collaborative online learning ini- nich). He also serves the Swedenborgian
Swedenborgian resonances in more re- tiative. These learning modules are a Church of San Francisco as a ministe-
cent, contemporary queer aesthetics, form of massive open online courses rial assistant and is an ordinand for
such as in Tony Kushner’s Angels in aimed at bringing scholarly and edu- ministry with the Swedenborgian
America. The seminar features some cational resources about Swedenborg Church of North America.
guest scholars who are experts on the and Swedenborgian theology to our To register, click here or email
history of sexuality and queer theory; broader, global, and increasingly info@swedenborgianstudies.orgthe Messenger March 2023 29
Deborah’s Tree Interview
Continued from 27 Social Justice Committee
Facebook posts, blogs, and YouTube
videos. Individuals can post their own
Engaged Swedenborgianism and
material or questions on our Facebook Beloved Community
page and stimulate discussion that way.
By Dru Johnson
The podcast will offer an opportuni-
ty for guests to share their perspectives
A new command I give you: Love one without doing the other.
and thinking. Of course, as you can
another. As I have loved you, so you must To attempt social regeneration with-
imagine, discussions happen at our hy-
love one another. By this everyone will out personal regeneration would be a
brid events, often quite lively and even
know that you are my disciples, if you nonstarter—without doing the work
impassioned!
love one another (John 13:34–3)5. of regeneration personally, we lack the
awareness of our own shortcomings
JL: Is Deborah’s Tree only for
women?
RT: No! Our mission is to promote the
A s I shared previously (January/
February 2023 issue of the Mes-
senger), taking a faith formation class
and the need for the inflow of divine
goodness and truth to bring to the ta-
ble of social change. Similarly, personal
work of female Swedenborgians for the in seminary, I learned about “Engaged piety is meaningless if we do not apply
benefit of all Swedenborgians, and for Spirituality” that originated from the it to our social connections and soci-
all people involved in the women’s spir- late great Buddhist monk and peace ety. We see this in the “new command-
ituality movement. Men, and persons maker Thich Nhat Hahn. Applying ment” the Lord Jesus (a.k.a. Rabbi Ye-
who do not identify as female, have at- this to Swedenborgianism, Engaged shua) and it is here in the difficult work
tended all of our events, except the Si- Swedenborgianism challenges us to of our social and societal regeneration
lent Retreat, and have interacted with develop our faith by engaging in both that the rubber meets the road.
us on social media. Our focus is on personal and social transformation, The Lord, Rabbi Yeshua, was espe-
lifting up the voices of Swedenborgian since as the Lord (and Swedenborg) cially clear that bigotry doesn’t exist in
women, so we are limited to women in teaches us, we really cannot do one what he called “The Divine Realm”
that sense, but we want those voices to (a.k.a. The Kingdom of God or The
be heard by everyone. New Jerusalem) and the Rev. Dr. Mar-
tin Luther King and others have called
help edit the “Women’s Companion to
JL: How can people get involved “The Beloved Community.” Rabbi Ye-
Conjugial Love,” selecting and display-
with and possibly support shua made a special point to identify
ing our Spiritual Quotes, or letting us
Deborah’s Tree? himself with the dispossessed—those
know about Swedenborgian women
the entrenched powerful reject. Today
RT: There are several ways for people whose work could use some promo-
we are called to dismantle both the
to get involved with the Deborah’s Tree tion, are all wonderful ways to get in-
personal and societal implicit biases
community. By contacting me at hro- volved and offer support. Financial
and bigotry we have picked up from
slyntaylor@gmail.com, they can be support is also very helpful! It’s easy to
family and society that harms people
added to our email list to receive our donate through the Deborah’s Tree
of color, women, LGBTQ, the dis-
monthly newsletter, and notifications website, at https://www.deborahstree.
abled, and the poor. Engaged
about upcoming events. Visiting our org/donate-and-volunteer.
Swedenborgianism is all about build-
website and interacting with us on so- Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence is the Director of the ing beloved community.
cial media are both great ways to sup- Doctor of Ministry Program at Pacific School of
Dru Johnson (they/
port us and strengthen our communi- Religion and President of the Swedenborgian
them) is a graduate of
ty. Those simple actions help us be- Church of North America.
Pacific School of Religion
come more of a visible presence online, Rev. Roslyn Taylor is a minister with the and The Center for
and thereby help us get the voices and Swedenborgian Church of North America, Swedenborgian Studies
work of Swedenborgian women out living in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. She in Berkeley, California. Dru
facilitates the Home Church in Bryn Athyn, was especially excited to
into the public domain. Sharing their recently founded the Deborah’s Tree ministry, hear his mentor, Rev. Dr.
talents by contributing to the programs and has provided music for worship services Jim Lawrence, use the
at our hybrid events, volunteering to in several different contexts. phrase “Engaged Swedenborgianism.”30 the Messenger March 2023
Passages
Deaths Dick shepherded a move out to the for latchkey kids, a local thrift shop,
Rev. Richard “Dick ” H. Tafel, northern suburbs, where the congrega- and a food pantry. A federal grant was
Jr., 86, en- tion had temporary quarters in a home obtained to provide staffing for the af-
tered into the for four years. Land was acquired and ter-school project. The Christmas Eve
f u l l ne s s of a new building was completed in 1968 service on the beach under the stars
t he spiritu- on Kemper Road in the City of Love- was a popular long-running program.
al world on land. This was a move to a completely Dick also worked for some years
October 13, new area, and the start of a transition in real estate and served as Chap-
2022, in Na- in the make-up of the congregation. lain of the Fort Myers Beach Fire De-
ples, Florida, Under Dick’s pastoring the transfor- partment. After retirement, while the
near his long- mation was successful. Dick not only church continued under successive
time home in oversaw the construction and physi- ministers, he continued to help out
Nor t h For t cal moves but was instrumental in in- when needed, but discontinuation of
Myers, after suffering for some time troducing new programs. From 1969 the federal grant program had led to
with Parkinson’s and advancing de- through 1972 a team ministry experi- reduced church activity, and eventu-
mentia. Dick was born November ment was conducted with Dick’s cous- ally, an inability to engage clergy led
13, 1935, in Philadelphia, Pennsylva- in Rev. F. Bob Tafel sharing the pastor- to its eventual closure. Dick and Linda
nia, to Rev. Richard H. and Corinne ate. A teen coffee house program pro- had moved to North Fort Myers, away
B. Tafel, his father having served as vided a place where area teens could from the beach, but remained active
minister to the Swedenborgian church gather on Friday evenings. In 1972, in the church. They rejoined the Cin-
in Philadelphia. Many of us remem- an outdoor wedding chapel was built cinnati church when it began offering
ber both Dick, Sr. and Corinne fond- and a thriving wedding ministry devel- online services during the COVID-19
ly. Dick grew up in Narberth, Pennsyl- oped. In 1979, a new Swedenborgian pandemic.
vania, with younger brothers Harvey camp program was begun “Beside the Dick is survived by his children, son
and Jonathan. Harvey also entered the Point” at Rocky Fork Lake, where in- John (Jungae), daughters Gretchen Si-
Swedenborgian ministry and retired ner-city kids and church kids spent a mard (Bob Koning) and Beth (Ricky)
after long service at Wayfarers Chapel, week or two together each summer. Rush; grandchildren Ashley (Shihan)
and Jonathan has had a career in high- Per the church board’s request that Wijeyeratne, Lauren (Nate) Mayo,
er education. he be involved in community service Garrett Simard (Cassidy Lukaart),
Dick graduated in 1957 from outside the church, Dick joined the Austin and Adam Pegouske, Sophia
Dickinson College with a degree in Montgomery Community Fire De- Rush, step-grandchildren Matthew
philosophy. Unable to choose between partment as a volunteer, serving there and Trey Rush; great-grandson Wade
seminary and law school, he sailed for for twenty-three years and rising to the Mayo; wife Linda and brothers Harvey
a year with the Merchant Marines on rank of Assistant Chief. He also was (Mareta) and Jonathan (Sandy). He
an oil tanker between Baltimore and certified as an EMT and volunteered was preceded in death by his parents.
Texas. He then enrolled in the New on the Blue Ash-Montgomery Life Per his wishes, his body was donated to
Church Theological School, located Squad. the University of Miami Medical
at that time in Cambridge, Massachu- Dick served in numerous denomi- School. A Celebration of Life is being
setts, and Andover Newton Theolog- national roles, including Chair of the planned, tentatively for later in 2023.
ical School, where he earned a mas- Council of Ministers and President.
ter’s degree in divinity. He was or- In 1990 when he took office as Presi-
dained into the Swedenborgian min- dent, he and his wife, Linda, relocated
istry in 1962 and took the pastorate of from Cincinnati to Fort Myers Beach,
the Cincinnati church. At that time Florida. In 1995, he started the New
the church was located in the Avon- Church of Southwest Florida and en-
dale area and they were facing their listed a network of local businesses to
property being taken under eminent support community outreach minis-
domain for the construction of I-71. tries including an after-school programYou can also read
