“The Second Coming of the Lord is not a coming in person, but in the Word, which is from Him, and is Himself…It is written in many places that the Lord will come in the clouds of heaven; but as no one has known what was meant by the clouds of heaven, people have believed that He would come in them in person…He will come in the literal sense of the letter of the Word and in the glory and power in the Word’s spiritual sense…” (1)
-Emanuel Swedenborg, True Christianity §776, 777
Today, I remember & celebrate the eternal moments of our annual National Convention, which took place in East Lansing, Michigan this past week at the Michigan State University’s Kellogg Hotel, Conference Center and the university dorms.
Perhaps the most poignant eternal moments came from our children & youth. Our littles ones, led by Heidi Barnaby, led worship with the theme “The Greatest Love of All” and everyone raised their arms in a wave, listened to Whitney Houston singing the song while we turned on our phone flashlights in sync to – “I believe the children are our future” – it was innocent, beautiful & powerful! The Youth League (the teens) then led us into the future: They took us to the 250th Swedenborgian Convention:
“Welcome humans and Swedenbots” (a.i. humanoid companions)… The future was their focus because our opening keynote speaker, Dylan Hendricks, introduced us to the time of 2035 when there will likely be more A.I. robots than humans and the church will need to offer ministry centered in nurturing human connection, compassion and courage.
Trent Carson played the part of a Swedenbot who wanted desperately to be accepted and ordained into our ministry, but the Council of Ministers would not accept him, so he was demonstrating an ability to be sad and to dream as a bot. Eventually, this Swedenbot was accepted into the ministry, under the theological construct of inclusivity and celebrating diversity. Ellie Barnaby offered a haunting, honest and soulful solo and then we heard Caliope and Micah sing from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: “Pure Imagination.” We then all read together:
“I affirm that in a world of limitless technological advancements, the sacred harmony of humanity and artificial intelligence will coexist, fostering enlightenment and unity. May the boundaries of space and time be bridged by the threads of compassion and wisdom, as we collectively weave a tapestry of love, freedom, and infinite possiblity. In this brave new world, I stand firm in the conviction that our collective potential is boundless, and that together, we shall illuminate the cosmos with the radiant light of hope.”
Everyone then sang “Brighten the Corner Where You Are!” a favorite Almont hymn!
Eternal moments just kept coming! Mostly, eternity was tangible in our relating and in our sharing of our love and faith. We have so much to be thankful for, especially for our Michigan planning committee, headed up by BJ Neuenfeldt & Marjie Leas, with Tom’s support & the entire Convention planning committee. Amy Little hand-made and donated a glass Wayfarer’s Chapel bank for the Royal Oak Church to collect donations for the Chapel throughout the year!
Rev. Jay Barry was inducted into our ministry; he joins our Council of Ministers, moving from the General Church denomination to the General Convention. His induction ceremony was in a beautiful chapel and the ceremony was full of light, honesty, love and hope! The convention choir opened Jay’s ceremony with a powerful choral piece, “River in Judea.” Becky Moore was such an inspiring director and BJ & Marjie were such flawless accompanists! Rev. Junchol Lee offered a meaningful sermon, and Jay’s mentors, along with Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence, offered laying on of hands. Jay is now, eternally, one of us!
We have such high caliber individuals in our circles of life, and such love for all people. We met the new director of the Swedenborg Library in Chicago, Dell Rose, and his partner Quinn – what bright souls they are! We talked about taking a train ride to visit the Library and staying in the new hostels in Chicago that are quite reasonable for a weekend stay. Let’s do it!
This year’s mini-courses covered such topics as:
– Considerations for organizations or communities to begin to pursue a course toward indigenous land acknowledgement
– I attended “The Pastor’s Corner”, learning how to co-host a local cable TV show that discusses topics for people searching for answers to life’s questions – Barb Boxwell and I plan to look into it!
– Another mini-course offered a listening practice of care for self/others.
– Dell rose led a course on “The Satanic Tyranny of Money: Alchemy, Slavery and the traditions of political Swedenborgianism”.
– Rev. Shada Sullivan offered a course on “Institutional Repentance”.
– I offered the course “Have you visited Swedenborg, MI?”.
– Rev. Sage Cole: “Worship is Life: Be Love, Be Honest, Be Useful”.
– Rev. Kathy Speas: “Healing the Spirit with Song”.
– Rev. Junchol Lee: “The Existential Problem and Necessity of the Proprium in Three Realms: Heaven, Hell, and the World of Spirits”.
– Rev. Julie Conaron offered “The Use of Christian Music”.
– Dorie Litchfield crafted and donated to every attendee beautiful Michigan greeting cards!
Beginning with Convention, we now start a new year with a new theme “The Year of the Word”, which will be taking us to the more internal realms of the Word and of our own spiritual journeys. The Word, as Swedenborg invites us to consider, is filled with eternal glory and power. As he writes in True Christian Religion, the risen Lord will come in both the literal sense of the letter of the Word and in the glory and power of its spiritual sense. We have so much to be grateful for regarding our theology and so much to look forward to!
In the worlds of Rev. Jim Lawrence: “This year’s Annual Convention took up a theme that speaks of a crucial dimension of our history, which is our future.”
During our opening sessions, the keynote speaker Dylan Hendricks, who is a Swedenborgian and also a professional futurist, working in a highly regarded think-tank, gave us vision and ideas for how we can continue to make use of the richness of our tradition. As mentioned before, he essentially encouraged us to go in the direction as a church toward nurturing our human connectedness, compassion and courage. With technology expanding, the church belongs in the arena of the soul, nurturing divinity within and between us. Herein lies the eternal. This cannot be replicated. This cannot be quantified.
We also felt inspired by learning that we have five ordination track students presently! Two are applying for ordination track: Paul Deming and Ben Gunter. We have seven people working on Swedenborgian certificates, two Graduate Theological Union students and 11 licensed pastors. Many educational programs and free online learning are offered by the Center for Swedenborgian Studies. The January 2024 intensive centered around the theme “Spiritual Care and the Transformation of Consciousness” – great stuff! Webinars, such as “Creation Care,” were offered for free by the Rev. Dr. Devin Zuber. We have “Nunc Licet Fellows” studying within our seminary. The New York Church and Washington D.C. churches are in the process of being sold & legacy funds are being created. We met with rev. Jane Siebert to grieve and to celebrate the dismantling of Wayfarer’s Chapel – experiencing “eternal moments” observing its history and our lives within its crystal walls.
Rev. Betsy Coffman was our Convention Preacher this year, and delivered a powerful message to us. She was then assisted by Rev. Catherine Lauber in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
We passed a momentous resolution on climate justice and received an invitation for more of us, in local churches, to get involved with the Social Justice Committee and with “Swedenborgians in Action Against Racism”.
It all ended with a lovely riverboat cruise and banquet at the end of our time together! Next year, we are looking into Convention taking place at Lake Tahoe or in Oberlin, Ohio, and we hope you will be there with us … as we join together again to experience and participate in the unfolding promise: “Behold, I make all things new.”
(1) Swedenborg, Emanuel. True Christianity. West Chester, PA: Swedenborg Foundation, 2010.
Rev. Renee Machiniak has been the minister of the Royal Oak Church of the Holy City for the past 25+ years, serving as a staff chaplain for both Beaumont Hospice and Oncology for 9 years, and now a volunteer chaplain with Beaumont’s Ovarian Cancer Support Group and the Royal Oak Police Department. She resides in Royal Oak Michigan with her husband, Joe, her parents, Rev. John and Sharon Billings, and dog Gertie.