Rev. Eric H. Carswell
President of the Academy of the New Church
A Common Perspective in the Past that I do not Believe We
Should Act from Today
Historically, admitting, let alone seeking, students whose parents
have not had a New Church background was seen to be in conflict with
the goals of New Church education.
Many of us are aware to some extent of the 12th Principle of the Academy
(“Academy” in this context refers not specifically to
the schools, but rather to the precursor to the General Church).
The true field of Evangelization is with the children of New Church
parents. In order to occupy this fruitful field of work New Church
Schools are needed, that children may be kept in the sphere and environment
of the Church, until they are able to think and act for themselves.
(W.F. Pendleton, New Church Life, 1899, p. 119)
Closely related to this Principle is the 2nd Principle:
The old or former Christian Church is consummated and dead, with
no hope of a resurrection; except with those who separate themselves
from it and come to the LORD in His New Church. The New Church is
to be distinct from the Old, in its faith and practice, in its form
and organization, in its religious and social life. (ibid)
A modern author, Edgar H. Schein, in his influential book Organizational
Culture and Leadership (2004, 3rd ed.) asserts that one of the key
questions for any organization relates to “survival in and adaptation
to its external environment” (p. 87). The people of the early
Academy and General Church tended to view the environment outside
the New Church as a spiritual wasteland or worse. Survival required
remaining separate from this wasteland with strong definitions of
who was “in” and who was “out.” The Church
and its ideas tended to be seen as fragile and easily harmed or destroyed.
Not only did the early General Church tend to look with suspicion
and distrust on those not already part of the New Church but their
experience tended to support the idea that this perspective was entirely
justified. For example William R. Cooper, curator of the Bryn Athyn
Cathedral for its first 47 years, stated:
When I first took over the work at the Cathedral, I was thrilled
and optimistic at the prospect of converting many of the visitors,
but after eighteen years at it, and still being unable to point to
a single member of the New Church whom I can claim as “my convert,”
I am not as optimistic as I once was . . . . (NCL, 1939,
p. 162)
More than a decade later in an article reflecting on broadly advertised
missionary services held Sunday afternoons at the Cathedral from 1925-1931
Will Cooper observed:
Of all those making up the total of 12,746 strangers who attended
these missionary services during those seven years only one person
that I know of was baptized into the New Church as a result of them.
And that one dropped away after a short time, and to the best of my
knowledge has shown no further interest in the Church. Twenty-six
years after we started these services, and nineteen years after we
discontinued them, there is not one person to whom we can point who
is an active member of the New Church today as a result of them, as
far as we know.
He concluded his article:
The above facts and figures seem to suggest rather forcibly that
our children make a far more profitable field for missionary work
than the outsiders. This does not necessarily mean that missionary
work should not be done among those who are not of the New Church,
so far as the men and the means to carry it on are readily available.
But it does seem to suggest that it would be very poor policy to sacrifice
the education of our children in the Church in order to attempt, with
our very limited facilities, to evangelize a world that knows little,
and apparently cares less, about spiritual things. (p. 216-217)
I do not see this author as a primary cause, but rather as a symptom
of the general outlook that affected the General Church and the Academy
through much of the 20th century.
A Different Perspective that I Believe Should Guide Us Today
Much could be written about why the early General Church had the outlook
it did and why it experienced such relatively little success in welcoming
and introducing people into the New Church. However, for us, the question
is what perspective do we believe appropriately reflects what we are
called to by the Lord? A foundational passage that defines the nature
of the New Church states: “This New Church is the crown of all
the churches that have hitherto existed on the earth, because it is
to worship one visible God.” (TCR 787) While the Lord
wants us to be fully aware of the dangers of evil loves and false
ideas within our own minds and being lived by others, I would assert
that if we primarily see the presence and power of this evil when
we look at ourselves and the world around us we are, in effect, worshiping
a relatively distant or weak God.
We know that we cannot guarantee the growth of the New Church by our
own efforts, particularly if these efforts are flawed with arrogance,
condescension or an underlying pessimism. We are called to wish, hope
and pray that the New Church may grow.
“Let him who hears say, ‘Come!’” means
that a person who hears and knows anything of the Lord's coming, and
of the New Heaven and the New Church, therefore of the Lord's kingdom,
let him pray that it may come; by “And let him who thirsts come”
means that a person who desires the Lord's kingdom, and, at the same
time, truths, let that person pray that the Lord may come with light;
(AR 956)
Praying for something and not doing what we can reasonably be expected
to do to cooperate with the Lord in bringing the goal of the prayer
to pass is contrary to New Church doctrine.
Much was written and spoken in the last century about the book of
Revelation quotation, “But the woman was given two
wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to
her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a
time, from the presence of the serpent” Rev. 12:14.
A explanation of these words given in the Apocalypse Revealed
is among the more referenced passages in New Church Life articles
(62 times from 1881-2005).
It is of the Lord's Divine providence that the church should at first
be among a few, and that it should successively increase among many,
because the falsities of the former church must first be removed;
for before this, truths cannot be received, since truths, which are
received and implanted before falsities are removed, do not remain,
and they are also dissipated by the dragonists; the like happened
with the Christian church, which increased successively from a few
to many. Another reason is, that the New Heaven is first to be formed,
which will act as one with the church that will be on earth. (AR
547)
It is understandable that the people in the earlier General Church
might take comfort from the thought that their lack of success in
evangelization was due to forces well beyond their control. And there
will always be the influence of forces beyond our control that will
affect the number of students in any of the Academy schools. For example,
the Lord wants us to work toward our goals within a system that allows
for human free choice – including such things as how many Secondary
Schools seniors choose to attend Bryn Athyn College.
The danger of acknowledging forces beyond our control influencing
what happens is that it can induce apathy. It can encourage the state
of mind, “We are doing what we have previously viewed as our
job and so the lack of results are reflections of Divine Providence.”
The Lord does want us to use good judgment. We want to be clear, strong,
but welcoming and inviting in defining who we are and what we are
trying to do with our education. We have to accept that people (parents
and their students in the Secondary Schools and primarily just the
students in Bryn Athyn College and the Theological School) will arrive
at our doors with misconceptions and false ideas – as do students
from New Church backgrounds. We can be absolutely confident that everyone
within the organization, and who can be served by the organization
will have inclinations to evils of every kind. (AC 10367:3)
It is impossible for us to have a “pure and clean” environment
for New Church education. It is our job to cooperate with the Lord
in His efforts to lead people to better and more useful lives.
The efforts we are putting into marketing our schools, improving our
campus, working to further develop our curriculum, to hire the best
people we can should not be reflections of the belief that we, merely
by our own efforts, are going to make the New Church grow. Instead
I believe they reflect our efforts to help the Secondary Schools,
Bryn Athyn College and the Theological School to cooperate effectively
with the Lord. If we can confidently act as if we ourselves are responsible
and at the same time acknowledge that the Lord’s role is crucial,
I believe we will best place ourselves and the Academy in the stream
of providence.
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