in this issue
T
he Rt. Rev. Brian W. Keith, newly installed as Executive Bishop of the
General Church, has a message for the Church about the importance
of thinking about the Lord, plus news about his working relationship as
Chancellor with the Academy of the New Church, and the role of his new
assistant, the Rt. Rev. Peter M. Buss Jr. (Page 441)
In a sermon on the Lord’s command to His disciples – and to each of
us – to “Follow Me,” the Rev. James (Jay) Barry asks us to really think about
what it means to follow the Lord. One way, he says, is to “emulate Him by
serving all people without judgment. It is possible for us to love one another
unconditionally. It is possible to practice non-judgment, if not every day, then
on our best days.” (Page 455)
In a lengthy paper presented at the Bryn Athyn Council of the Clergy
meetings in June, the Rev. N. Bruce Rogers offers a study on Gender and
the Priesthood in the New Church in the 21st Century. He states: “Written in
plain language, the doctrines continue to communicate today what they
communicated yesterday, and what they have communicated from their
first publication. They are immutable. We cannot rewrite them. We cannot
interpret them to mean other than what they purport to mean.” We expect
there will be spirited response to this paper – on both sides of the issue. We
welcome a doctrinal and char