Dear San Francisco Swedenborgian Church Community,
I want to put before you more thoughts from the Earl Lectures’ theme
of “Spiritual but not Religious: Chasing the Divine”, specifically from Jim
Mitulski’s presentation. Jim was pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church
in San Francisco for fifteen years ending in 2001, and is now the pastor of the
New Spirit Community Church, the creation of three denominations working
together, which meets in the chapel at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley.
In writing about the above theme in his weekly e-newsletter, Jim says, “This
phrase represents the path of many who are weary of traditional religion but
unwilling to sacrifice community, ritual, prayer, social transformation and the
search for meaning. People who don't want to forget the teachings of the
prophets and Jesus, just because their religion has not continued to evolve at
the same pace that humanity does.
“New Spirit Community Church tries to blend the best of religious tradition as
well as the openness to spirit that encourages ongoing revelation, innovation
and experimentation. There was a lot of interest in our multi-affiliated identity,
our commitment to non-patriarchal language and the unusual model of
"straight and gay together" that we esteem as part of our church's mission
and identity.”
These words parallel what he said in his lecture: that religion tends to sanctify
the ongoing order of things, while spirituality provides the energy of renewal.
On the other hand, spirituality can lack a social analysis because it usually
remains the inner church as opposed to the outer church.
Some other interesting things from Jim’s talk worth thinking about:
- We are still split by our arguments over Reformation-era theological
positions.
- Evangelical and alternative religious movement leaders instinctively think
like entrepreneurs, while mainline denominational leaders fail to look for
new opportunities for ministry.
- The liberal church needs leadership and vision, not only the prophetic
voice.
- If a minister is leading a 20-member church of ‘little old ladies’, rather
than giving up, break open the issues of mortality, death and dying,
and the afterlife, and that church will soon number 200.
- It is very difficult to bring change to existing churches. Be willing to
prune, and to grow. Conflict in itself is not a bad thing.
- 50-member churches burn themselves out week-to-week, and 2,000
member churches easily lose the quality of ‘church’. Somewhere in-
between is a number that sustains, and feels like ‘church’. (Jeff’s note:
the average US church is between 100-200 members).
What do you find in Jim’s words that speak to your church’s context?
And, our preacher and teacher on Sunday, February 7th, was the Rev. Lee
Woofenden. His eye-opening sermon title was "Cannibalism and Communion:
Jesus Confounds the Head-Hunters and Head-Trippers", and his class after
coffee hour was titled "Sacred Tablets and Sacred Cows: God Collides with
Human Nature, Creating a Big Bang and a Big Book”.
Lee’s note about the class: “While Moses was up on Mount Sinai receiving the
Ten Commandments from God on tablets of stone, his people were quite
busy down at the bottom of the mountain breaking almost every one of
them! How could the infinite, eternal God talk to these stubborn, grossly
materialistic people? How can God talk to us?
“In this seminar we will explore how God reaches out to us through the Bible,
a book that is both divine and human at the same time. Warning: There will
be a quiz.”
Don’t know about you, but I sure was intrigued!
Lee is a Swedenborgian minister, editor, translator, and
teacher. He is the son of the Rev. Dr. William R. Woofenden, nephew of the
Rev. Dr. George F. Dole, and grandson of Mrs. Anita S. Dole, author of the
Dole Bible Study Notes. He was the primary Latin consultant for Secrets of
Heaven, Vol. 1, in the New Century Edition of Swedenborg's works, and is
engaged in ongoing work on additional volumes of the New Century Edition.
Rev. Lee is the translator of The Heavenly City: A Spiritual Guidebook, by
Emanuel Swedenborg, and author of Death and Rebirth: From Near-Death
Experiences to Eternal Life. He also edited and republished The Evening and
the Morning, by James Spilling, a classic Swedenborgian novel. He frequently
teaches online courses for SHS.
His next online class, taught independently,
begins Feb. 7 and is titled "God With Us: Understanding our Lord and Creator,
Jesus Christ." Rev. Lee enjoys taking spiritual insights from the Bible and the
writings of Emanuel Swedenborg and putting them into plain English as guides
for daily living.
Blessings,
Rev. Jeff
Scripture Readings
First Scripture Reading: Exodus 34:1-4, 28
The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two tablets of stone like the former ones, and I
will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets, which
you broke. Be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount
Sinai and present yourself there to me, on the top of the mountain. No one
shall come up with you, and do not let anyone be seen throughout all the
mountain; and do not let flocks or herds graze in front of that mountain.” So
Moses cut two tablets of stone like the former ones; and he rose early in the
morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and
took in his hand the two tablets of stone….He was there with the Lord forty
days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on
the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
Second Scripture Reading: John 6:53-68
So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the
Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my
flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last
day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my
flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father
sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live
because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that
which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will
live forever.” He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at
Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is
difficult; who can accept it?” But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were
complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you
were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the
spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you
are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.” For
Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who
was the one that would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told
you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” Because
of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.
So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter
answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal
life.
From Emanuel Swedenborg:
"Bread" is the Lord; so it dwells within the heavenly things of love that belong
to the Lord. The Lord is heavenly reality itself because he is love itself,
meaning he is mercy itself. So "bread" also means everything heavenly. In
other words, "bread" means all the love and kindness in us, since these come
from the Lord. If we have no love and kindness in us, we do not have the
Lord in us, and we are not blessed with the kind of goodness and happiness
that is symbolized by "bread" in the inner meaning. --Arcana Coelestia #2165.5
The meaning of bread
"Eating" means communicating, and also being joined together. This is clear
from the Bible. The command in Leviticus 6:16, 17 that Aaron, his sons the
Levites, and the people were to eat the consecrated elements of the
sacrifices in a holy place meant nothing but communication, joining together,
and making it our own. These consecrated things symbolize heavenly and
spiritual food. So the commandment refers to making that kind of food our
own by eating it.
--Arcana Coelestia #2187 The meaning of eating
Sunday Worship Service
Our Sunday worship service starts at 11 a.m. The worship service
is a traditional Christian Service and usually lasts about one hour.
The spiritual message is delivered each Sunday by our Interim Pastor, Rev. Jeffrey Cheifetz,
or by a Minister Intern, or by a guest. Please see the schedule below for details.
Join us for our coffee and fellowship hour in the Parish House following service.
Directions to church.
Additional Worship Services
The purpose of these services is to help us grow in our relationship
with the Divine to help us enter into a place of inner stillness and
sacredness where the deeper meaning of our lives is revealed. These
spiritual practices are especially important for those of us who have
the most to do, for it is in the doing that we often lose touch with
our deepest self. Reconnecting with our greater spiritual purpose
enables us to more fully and freely live a life of greater happiness
and peace.
On-Line Worshipping Community
Rev. Sage Currie is the minister of our denomination's first on-line
spiritual community. If you live far from a local Swedenborgian church,
or find yourself otherwise homebound, you may enjoy visiting
www.SwedenborgianCommunity.org.
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For a selection of recent sermons, click here.
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