Following Up to “How Do We Grow?”

Editor’s Corner

Following Up to “How Do We Grow”

I have received and overwhelming amount of positive feedback about my recent editorial titled “How Do We Grow?” and I want to thank everyone who took the time to either write to me or talk with me about it. I am really pleased that my recent editorials have been connecting with so many readers in one way or another. 

After my April editorial was published, Rev. Sage Cole reached out to me about recording a podcast on her new substack platform “Worship is Life” as part of her “Be Love, Be Honest, Be Useful” movement that works towards a clarified vision of how we might move forward in building a new church that welcomes and supports diversity, creativity, and change.

I was hesitant at first, but mainly because no one wants to listen to their own voice, me included. However, the more I thought about it, the more it felt like a good idea to just sit and have an honest conversation with her about what church is to me. And to me, as much as I love and care for many of our buildings and properties (I, too, consider myself a steward of one of our 100-year-old facilities), that really isn’t church. It’s the communities, the people, the families—and how all of us live our lives interacting with those around us—Swedenborgians or otherwise. Living a life of use, and being in heavenly communities with others are really the fundamentals of what church means to me. 

I encourage you to take a look and listen to what Rev. Sage is doing, and I look forward to being in community with you in a few short weeks in East Lansing, Michigan.

—Beki Greenwood

messenger@swedenborg.org

Read the full issue of the June 2024 Messenger