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Celebrating “Spiritual Sunshine” and Our Twenty-Year History of Online Ministry

By Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence The Swedenborgian Church of North America has supported a denomination project for an online community that collapses geographic separations. For two decades, with the work and support of many laypersons and under the leadership of three ministers, the denomination’s project has steadily grown and evolved in its skills and practices

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Falling Into October

By Beki Greenwood As usual, I’m finding it hard to believe that it is October already. Enjoying the erratic New England weather where you need to be prepared for three seasons in one day—could be forty-nine degrees, or eighty; blazing sun then pouring rain. You just never know. I personally like it. Today is rainy,

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A Swedenborgian Attorney Launched the Slavery Trial of the Century: The Dred Scott Case and Francis Butter Murdoch

By Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence The American attorney and newspaper publisher Francis Butter Murdoch (1808–1882), who helped organize the first Swedenborgian congregation in St. Louis, also saved Harriet and Dred Scott’s slavery freedom case from never happening. Due to their lack of funds, the Scotts had several attorneys drop their case, reports Lea VanderVelde, a

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Smiling man with glasses and a beard, set against a rustic background, exuding warmth and approachability.

Celebrating our Chaplains

By Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence The professional path of chaplaincy gives rise to powerful ministry roles in the Swedenborgian Church of North America—the only branch of worldwide Swedenborgianism that supports chaplaincy as an official category of ordained ministry. Though we may be the only Swedenborgian denomination to honor and support chaplaincy ministry in this way,

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Teens Explore the Universal Human at the SCYL Memorial Day Retreat

By Kurt Fekete Fourteen SCYL teens, along with fourteen young adult Transitions group members, gathered at Almont retreat center over Memorial Day weekend to attend the annual spring retreat. The teens stayed in Heritage Hall, while the young adults resided in the dormitory. The teens attend spiritual sessions while, the young adults primarily spent their

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