By Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence
Swedenborg once remarked in his eighteen-year diary that the love of only possessing money often becomes an obsession to the point of evolving into a kind of insanity, whereas the love of being useful through money always develops into a driving force creating angels. This counsel is on my mind this time of year when we especially focus on money in our church. August is high-gear time for grant applications for the next calendar year, and it involves a lot of time and effort on the part of dozens throughout our church organizations.
Our Standing Committee for Financial Accountability is one of the hardest working groups in our Church. Chaired by our treasurer, Jennifer Lindsay, she is joined by elected members Kurt Fekete, Tom Neuenfeldt, Rev. Rachel Madjerac, Rev. Jane Siebert, Kei Peng, and Andrea LoPinto, and they are always assisted throughout the year by our incredible account manager, Gina Peracchi. They shepherd the application and decision-making process for how our many funds will support the hard-working faithful organizations in their ministries next year.
Our per capita financial strength tops the chart for denominations in America, and that’s because we have been growing wealth for twenty-two generations. We may be tiny in terms of membership numbers, but our per capita footprint in history and culture is outsized. And that outcome is due in no small measure by our passion for our mission. The highly regarded sociology of religion scholar Rev. Dr. Bill McKinney, a longtime supporter of our seminary in Berkeley, once commented that Swedenborgians tend to be more passionate about their denominational identity than the typical rank and file of the mainlines. A noted fundraiser himself, he believed Swedenborgian passion also created our outsized per capita financial strength through our long endurance and commitment. We have been building a New Jerusalem vision in North America for 225 years and have accrued quantitative results from our perseverance.
Therefore, our ability to support the ongoing effort and passion of our people who go into ministry, certainly not for the money but for the imagination of making a better world, comes in no small part from the chain of generations creating our per capita wealth. The accumulated assets in our buildings and in fund accounts give us an ever-present opportunity not only to support longstanding heritage sites that continue to reach people but also to buoy new adventures.
The Zacchaeus story is one of my favorites in the New Testament. The tiny tax collector had become extremely wealthy largely through devious and aggressive tactics (Luke 19:1-10). Yet, he was intrigued by Jesus’s persona and messaging. Something touched him; something called him. Being the shortest guy around, he climbs a tree to get an upper-deck view. He is stunned when Jesus directly engages him “up there” and invites him down for a meal. Zacchaeus ends up transformed in the way he handles money and his life goals.
We are not guilty of devious behavior like old Zacchaeus—far from it—but we are of small stature with large assets. And we, too, are working hard to connect with the Lord in our mission. May we hear the invitation to dine with the Lord and in our own way discover, yet again, renewal, commitment, and faith.
—Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence
Read the full September 2026 issue.
Meet Jim Lawrence
Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence is the president of the Swedenborgian Church of North America. He was the dean of the Center for Swedenborgian Studies for 21 years prior to being elected President in 2022.
