Letters to the Editors
Letters may be sent to the Editors of New Church Life at
Box 743, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009
or e-mailed to [email protected].
What Role for the Laity?
To The Editors:
The article by the Rev. Willard L. D. Heinrichs, “Progress and Development
of the New Church,” in the May/June 2017 issue of New Church Life is very
interesting and a subject that has occupied my thoughts.
I understand in the article that it is said in the Writings that the growth
of the New Church on earth will be slow. How slow in terms of years we do
not know. The article refers to passages in the Writings and mentions that “the
internal and the external,” will have a direct impact on the growth of the New
Church. This leads me to ask: who will prepare the external?
What I would like to address here is the duty or role of the lay man and
woman of the church in its growth. Are we to sit back and let things happen,
or do we have a duty and therefore a role to play? After all, the Lord when on
earth sent his disciples to preach and spread the Word, and on the 19 th of June
He sent them again to spread the news.
I do not know of anything in the Word or the Writings that spells out the
duty or role of the laymen and women of the Church with regard to the growth
of the Church. However, it seems to me that the laity does have a duty and a
role – moral, implied, or otherwise – which is to let the world know about the
revealed teachings of the New Church.
The Church has been established in small pockets around the world,
thanks to the efforts of the ministry and powerful laypeople who have devoted
their time and money to do this – as well as regular people with great devotion.
This happened from Robert Hindmarsh in the late 1700s to today – where the
Swedenborg Foundation is doing very good work using the internet. General
Church Outreach, the Swedenborg Society and others are also working hard.
However, the world is going through great changes at a fast pace, with
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