A Message from the President
Swedenborg says the correspondence of summer signifies the height of formation. It is when nature is in full bloom and maturity, and so spiritually speaking summer means the height of charity and happiness, and it even means the fullness of the Church (see Secrets of Heaven §935 and Divine Love and Wisdom §73). In our denomination, summer also means the time when we have our largest gatherings. Ever since our first movement-wide convention in 1817, we have gathered with church-wide delegates somewhere around the continent for our annual legal but also spiritual business.
In addition to the summer convention, though, we have a distinctive history of multi-generational summer camps. Though most religious organizations now have summer camps and retreat programs, they are usually for youth or for adults. I’ve been fascinated by the Swedenborgian family camps for the role they play in our denominational life, and I have researched the question in terms of how common in American religion is this concept. Probably no more than five percent of established denominational camp summer programs are for all generations. These summer getaway spiritual formation adventures cannot be overestimated for their contribution to who we are as a church.
In late nineteenth century, there arose multi-generational summer camps that by the 1930s had blossomed into three enormously popular summer gatherings: the Almont New Church Assembly (image right) in Michigan, the Fryeburg New Church Assembly (image below) in Maine, and Split Mountain Camp in California (no longer active). Later, Paulhaven in Western Canada developed and flourished, and along the way, Beside the Point a youth and family camp in the Ohio Association existed for a time. Our youth director, Kurt Fekete, took our young people to a Swedenborgian International Summer Camp in England in 2019, where tremendous adventures of spirit delighted the youth.
Explicitly designed as spiritual formation and education with time for fun and community from the beginning, these gatherings have inspired commitment and belonging. The day has always been structured around worship, education, and play. The schedule for each day always includes time for each of these categories. Certainly, a highlight are the themes for the week and the preparation that is done for enriched spiritual contemplation. A roster of lecturers is common, and these are followed by group discussions. Nowadays anyone can drop in virtually for a Fryeburg lecture. There are education programs for each age group every day.
In some ways, though, play might be the special glue. Games and fun punctuate every day, with some activities as multigenerational and some age specific. Craft and creative activities are always in play. These summer spaces of spirit have proven their effectiveness for creating community, spiritual formation, and absolute devotion over the decades. As someone who grew up actively in a mainline denomination where regional summer camps for youth was common and in which I participated a number of times, as an adult Swedenborgian convert, I’ve marveled at the richness of multigenerational gatherings of summer in our church. If you’ve never been, you might consider a new adventure.
—Jim Lawrence
Read the full issue of the May 2024 Messenger
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.
