Out of Isolation

Kendall shares this week about a new program designed to make joining a New Church small group easier and more available the world over. Small groups allow people to connect and discuss religion in a more thorough and hands on way than just reading or listening. Kendall explains the new program and the difference it has made in her life. -Editor.

Of the many gifts that the Lord has offered me in my personal spiritual journey, one of the most rewarding has been my discovery of a small community in which I can find truth, connection, and refreshment on a regular basis. My experience attending weekly group meetings with my small community has shown me just how rich and fertile the soil of a group setting can be for spiritual growth.

Not everyone can connect to the groups I attend, as they are limited to those in my immediate geographic area. So I am motivated to share with you an opportunity to plug into a simple program that could support you or someone you know in your spiritual lives.

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Understanding More Truthfully - About "Why This Way"

How does the way you think affect the way you speak? And the things you speak the way you think? Sylvia introduces the core ideas of Why This Way and shares how her efforts to shed even the subtle false bits and pieces in communication has allowed for true things to come into her thoughts and words. -Editor.

I remember being at Bryn Athyn College and regularly being involved in intellectually stimulating theological discussions, both in class and in social contexts among friends. There I learned to communicate about deep issues, and to discuss ideas on their own merits. One thing I love about New Church culture in Bryn Athyn is the emphasis on truth seeking – not just truth, but the constant, humble search for it. And I didn't realize how important that was to me until a couple of years ago, when I started looking more closely at communication patterns.

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Repentance: Incomparable Process of Life Change and Spiritual Transformation

This week Mark introduces the Begin A New Life program - a process using the steps of repentance as a means of self examination. He offers personal testimony as to the amazing, deep, and life changing process that is repentance. -Editor

On January 25th, a one-day seminar/workshop was held at the Bryn Athyn Cathedral in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania (USA). Twenty-four people—college age and up—were there. The subject was the New Church’s “steps of repentance” as a disciplined spiritual practice¹. The title of the seminar was Begin a New Life: Four Universal Steps of Life Change and Spiritual Transformation.

Begin a New Life is a universal, faith based process of life change and spiritual transformation. It involves a formatting of the steps of repentance into a set of worksheets which allows people to go through the process in journalizing fashion. It also borrows on Swedenborg’s full explanations of the Ten Commandments at two different points in the process—recognition and living a new life.

The purpose of this article is to give a testimony to the value of this process in my own life.

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