New Church Life September/October 2017 | Page 39

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Other business included redefining committee member terms to coincide with meetings of the whole council , rather than calendar years ; remembering members who left the natural world since our last meetings ( the Revs . Robert H . P . Cole , Norman E . Riley and Douglas M . Taylor ), and the unhappy task of dropping from membership men who had resigned ( Vicente H . R . Nobre ) or had their recognition by the executive bishop as priests of the General Church withdrawn after a lengthy process and much counsel ( Jacob M . Maseko and Ronald D . Schnarr ).
The Rev . Thomas H . Rose announced that to serve as a minister of The Lord ’ s New Church which is Nova Hierosolyma he was required to formally resign from the General Church priesthood . He explained that he treasures his 29 years of service in the General Church , and continues to feel at one with it and this council .
The Lord and Spiritual Growth The Rev Henri Joël K . Kouassi introduced our first speaker , the Rev . Göran R . Appelgren , whose paper was titled : “ The Lord ’ s Glorification Series – A Case for Real Spiritual Growth .”
He got our attention by declaring , “ I have no idea what I ’ m talking about .” His premise was that our spiritual life is “ a mess ,” and that the Lord alone sees the way to regenerate us , just as He brings order to the “ mess ” within a chrysalis , and produces a butterfly . The Lord took on this “ mess ” when He was born into this world . Led by His Divine love , He used His Divine power to get out of that mess and make His Humanity Divine .
That process is described in Arcana Coelestia where it treats of the meaning within the stories of Abraham , Isaac and Jacob . The many strange stories about Abraham passing his wife off as his sister , or Rebecca putting up Jacob to trick Isaac into giving him Esau ’ s blessing , are a reminder that we are in a messy spiritual situation , and only the Lord can bring us through . He sees the good ground where His seeds of truth may grow , and leads us to a unity of will , thought and action .
As pastors lead , it is most important to keep in mind that it is good ground which alone can receive truth . He closed with the reminder of Psalm 37:23 : “ The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord .”
The practice of inviting a prepared response to each paper was introduced this year . The Rev . Alan M . Cowley gave the first . He expanded where Göran ’ s paper suggested that people can be afraid of the church , whereas the Doctrines are not meant to be the “ LAW ” that judges , but “ a spiritual force that can change people ’ s lives to something they never dreamt were possible .”
Alan introduced an analogy of his own , in which someone going to a gym to improve his health may be intimidated by the sense that only fit people
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