By Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence
One of the most focused Swedenborgian books on the public theology possibilities for faith in the public square was penned by Swedenborgian professor Rev. Dr. Ted Klein as The Power of Service: A Swedenborgian Approach to the Social Issues in the Twenty-First Century (San Francisco: J. Appleseed & Co., 1998). Rev. Dr. Klein had earned a Ph.D. in Moral Philosophy at Boston University and had been instrumental in developing the Social Concerns Committee in our denomination. That committee today sails under the banner of the Social Justice Committee, which produces these regular “Justice is the New Jerusalem” contributions in our monthly denominational organ. Along the way in his career, he taught philosophy at Urbana University for many years before lending his skills in the classroom to the Swedenborg School of Religion, and he enjoyed many years as an adjunct professor at the University of Massachusetts (Boston campus). He also served on the ministry staff at the Church on the Hill in Boston for fifteen years and took great interest in serving the social needs of the homeless and needy around the church.
For two years he steadily worked on the crowning achievement of his career that intertwined his twin passions of Swedenborgian theology and social justice service. In The Power of Service, Ted begins the book with a substantial description of Swedenborg’s career in the House of Nobles for forty years. He underscores that Swedenborg continued his focus on public service after his dramatic spiritual call from God to his new endeavor of the books that are now part of world spirituality, and that Swedenborg never stopped focusing on the social needs of his country. He brought his evolving spiritual values to bear on his perspectives concerning the social good.
Rev. Dr. Klein advocates that we follow Swedenborg’s example in seeking to integrate spirituality and social justice concerns so that the church not only addresses the spiritual needs of the life of faith within the walls of its sanctuaries but also speaks in the public square, offering a spiritual view on the social issues we face as a society. Chapters of The Power of Service explore philosophically social concepts of “Community, Pluralism, and Power” in how we go about the challenges of social justice; and economic concepts of “Disparities, Justice, and Compassion” in how we go about the justice work of disparities, fairness, and the general good. Other chapters investigate various moral and social issues, and throughout the book consistently draw from Swedenborg’s theology.
One such quote capturing the essence of living out spiritual values in our larger life as a society is:
There is a single doctrine when all people have mutual love or compassion. Mutual love and compassion make them one, even though they are different, since a one is made up of different components. All such people, no matter how many (even to hundreds of thousands), if they are involved in compassion or mutual love, have a single goal, namely, the common good, the Lord’s kingdom, and the Lord himself. Differences in doctrine and worship are then like the differences between the senses and organs in a person, which contribute to the perfection of the whole. Then the Lord flows in and works through compassion uniquely for everyone’s individuality and arranges the entire group in a pattern—on earth, therefore, as in heaven; and then the Lord’s will, as the Lord himself teaches, is done on earth as it is in heaven. –Arcana Coelestia §1285
Much more than a century ago, a book called New Church Worthies celebrated Swedenborgian laborers in the vineyard, and the term “New Church Worthies” caught on for a long time as a term to recognize and appreciate the contributions of those who have gone before. In this offering of bringing our Swedenborgian voice of faith to the public square, I salute the New Church worthy Ted Klein for his invaluable scholarship in the work of bringing our Swedenborgian voice of faith to the public square on social issues.
Read the full October 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.
