The Rev. Grant Odhner: “Masculine Initiative in the Things of the
Church.” His thesis was that both a masculine-only and a gender inclusive
priesthood can be right for different bodies of the Church, but not for the same
body, because you can’t have a point of view without a way to apply it.
He brought out several concepts from his 2007 paper, “Responding to the
Lord’s Word: Approaching Revelation to be Led to the Lord,” since he saw
it helping with the issues before us. He drew our attention to acquiring the
doctrine of genuine truth, which is gathered from places where the spiritual
sense lies bare in the literal sense. Here are found teachings about the Lord,
faith in Him, and love toward the neighbor. These are general teachings which
rule the rest.
Mr. Odhner then applied these teachings to our discussion and asked
whether the doctrine of the priesthood, or the truths about the masculine and
the feminine, or the truths about representation, are primary truths. He said
that most of these things are “clothing” and “veilings” rather than the things
concerning life and salvation that are bare.
He said the teachings about the masculine, the priesthood and
representation suggest to him that the ideal is for men to be featured in those
roles because of the nature of the masculine mind and what it can and must
do for the human race. He also said that to these are added issues of freedom
because men are forms of rationality, and need to be empowered, while women
at their best want to see men use that freedom to acquire wisdom, love it, and
bring it into their lives.
Workshops: Following lunch two workshops ran concurrently. One was
offered by Dr. Saul Fisher, a psychologist on retainer by the General Church
for its “employee assistance program.” He and a colleague co-led a session with
the Rev. Brian D. Smith,It focusing on clergy burnout, and how to maintain
health in that process.
The other session was offered by the Rev. Nathan F. Cole: “She is Mine,
He is Mine: Courtship in the New Church.” Noting how accepted sex before
marriage is these days, and how damaging it can be, he said he would like to
see a social life designed to be supportive of marriage.
Discussion touched on such topics as preserving ideals, restoring those
who have missed it, the value of stories for applying truths and creating a
supportive culture, and the challenges of pursuing ideals and finding potential
New Church partners in places outside Bryn Athyn.
The Rev. Kenneth J. Alden: “Gender and Serving in the Uses of the
Priesthood: What Did the Lord Do, and Why?” He said his study attempts
to draw on the Lord’s own actions to shed additional light on the subject of
gender and ordination.
He observed that in the three churches prior to the Lord’s Advent, the
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