Gathering Leaves 2010: Workshops
PLEASE NOTE: ONLY THE WORKSHOPS DESCRIBED BELOW WILL BE OFFERED AT THE RETREAT. TWO OF THE WORKSHOPS LISTED ON THE BROCHURE HAVE BEEN CANCELED (ALIGN WITH THE DIVINE, AND TRANSFORMATION FOR DUMMIES)
Title: The spiritual role of women in the church…and beyond
Leader: Julie Conaron
Background: During the years she studied for the MA in Religious studies at Bryn Athyn theological school (2003 – 2007) Julie felt uneasy about how women were viewed in both the church and society at large the more she pursued her studies. While not a feminist – she believes women are equally valuable as men but they are definitely different - she felt there were some discrepancies in how women were spoken of in the Writings, the level of spiritual validity accorded to them by some of the organized churches, and the “derived doctrine” that prevents them becoming “official” feminine ministers in some branches of the New Church. The more she pursued her calling the more she noticed the gap widening between what she had been told for 50+ years: “women cannot be priests/ministers – the Writings say so,” and the dawning realization that the Writings do not say that at all. In fact the spiritually nurturing role of women in the church has until recently been almost ignored, although it is being done on a volunteer basis. As a result the feminine ministry, (which Julie calls the “heart” ministry) part of the church is often suffering and missing.
Objectives and Format: Julie will share some of the points she used in a paper on this subject for her New Church History course, but her goal is an interactive workshop, hearing people’s ideas, discussing what a feminine ministry would look like and how to go forward from here.
Leader Bio: Julie is actively pursuing a career as a chaplain. A former scientist who lost her job almost 2 years ago, she regarded this event as the Lord opening a door for her to pursue the ministry. She has an MA in Religious studies, one CPE unit (400 hours of Clinical Pastoral Education required for chaplaincy), a year of volunteer work in pastoral care and hospice visiting at Abington hospital, and is currently in an on-line program to become a Specialist in Pastoral Care this summer. She proposes to enter an ordination program in March to become an ordained interfaith minister in 2012.
*******************
Title: In the Image of God, Male and Female
Leader: Roslyn Taylor
Background: Archeological research from the latter part of the 20th Century indicates that the earliest people on earth worshiped a female deity. Creation scriptures in Genesis 1:27, part of the Most Ancient Word according to Swedenborg, describe the Divine being imaged in both male and female human forms. At some point after that, the Divine was worshiped for millennia as a male deity. In the Christian tradition, which is our cultural and religious inheritance, the Divine is called “Our Father.” Several questions arise from this sequence of events. Does the Divine include both the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine, or only one of them? Does the Divine transcend gender altogether? What about the Divine Human described in Swedenborg’s theological writings?
Objectives and Format: We will take a compassionate look at the issues around gender and the Divine by 1) Responding individually to visual art depictions of male and female deities, 2) Becoming familiar with relevant concepts through a review of Biblical and Swedenborgian teachings, 3) In small group discussion, considering how our responses to the artwork and theological concepts impact our relationships with the Divine, with ourselves, with our significant others, and with our faith community.
Leader Bio: Roslyn Taylor has written and spoken within Swedenborgian/New Church faith communities on issues in Swedenborgian theology of interest especially to women. This workshop is based on thesis work she did for her MA in Religious Studies from the Academy of the New Church in Bryn Athyn, PA, USA. The daughter and granddaughter of New Church ministers, Roslyn is an adjunct staff hospital chaplain, leads a Home Church in Bryn Athyn, and is pursuing ordination as a New Church minister. Roslyn lives in Huntingdon Valley, PA and is the blessed mother of four young adult children.
*******************
Title: An Experiential Guide to Reading the Writings
Leaders: Gray Glenn and Siri Hurst
Background, Objectives and Format: This workshop could be useful if you are someone who intends to use the Writings as a tool for your spiritual life, but feel blocked in the "how" of it. We will present a six-step approach to applying the Word of the Lord to daily life for personal transformation. The work will create an awareness of how even the most mundane aspects of life can be transformed into a greater spiritual awakening. Each participant will be given readings from the Writings from which to engage in this process. This six-step program is based on Logopraxis, the work of Rev. David Millar of the Australian New Church. He is seeking a communicable way to “practice the Word”.
Participants who sign-up for this workshop are encouraged to send a number from the Writings to Gray Glenn ahead of time; the number offered being one that the participant struggles to know how to apply to her own life. Send to: 3585 RT 737 Kempton, PA or email to [email protected]
Leaders Bios: Gray has been a serious student of the Writings for 45 years. The last 5 of those years she has discovered a whole new dimension to the life of religion through Logopraxis. Gray keeps a Kindergarten at the Swedenborgian Kempton New Church School with the constant question on her mind, “What is good for children?” She has cultural and historic roots in the General Church. Siri has had a lifelong involvement with the Lord’s New Church and is presently on the Board of Directors. She taught for twenty one years at the Academy of the New Church and then worked at Glencairn Museum. For the past year she has studied the Arcana with Rev. David Millar of the Australian New Church using the six-step approach. Her affiliation is with The Lord’s New Church.
******************
Title: Revelation of Spirit in the Novels of Dorothy Canfield and Elizabeth Goudge
Leader: Linda Simonetti Odhner
Background: American Dorothy Canfield (Fisher) and British Elizabeth Goudge, writing in the early and mid-twentieth century respectively, produced novels that were unfashionably domestic, idealistic, and uplifting. Their work was generally dismissed as "Second-tier fiction" or "women's fiction," AKA "chick lit." But this label doesn't remotely do them justice. (Dorothy Canfield's work did attract notice in its time; her book The Brimming Cup was the second-best seller in the US in 1922, after Sinclair Lewis' Arrowsmith.) Each author in her own way shows how human beings live simultaneously in the spiritual and natural worlds, and shines a perceptive and compassionate light on personal struggle and growth. Those of us who wonder what "New Church literature" might look like have much to learn from the deep-hearted writing of these two wise women.
Objectives and Format: I will read aloud illustrative excerpts from a selection of Canfield and Goudge's fiction and we will discuss them. Feel free to bring your knitting. Anyone who would like to read some of the books ahead of time may request a book list from me.
Leader Bio: Linda Simonetti Odhner has been reading novels since shortly before age nine, and been inspired, moved, and transported by them for over 40 years. She edited Theta Alpha Journal for nine years, and professionally coaches both creative and research writers. She was editor of the New Church Round Robin Story Exchange (started by Laurel Odhner Powell) for a while. She is working on writing her own fiction, but the only book she has completed is a fan novel, Harry Potter and the Auror's Ransom. She loves to read aloud to her family and anyone else who will listen.
*******************
Title: How Women Elders Can Save the World
Leader: Page Morahan
Background: Global experts, scholars and religious leaders suggest the world needs to rebalance the masculine and feminine approaches to life to heal the wounds of war and move to a new order of respectful collaboration. We are in a unique period in the history of the world – the presence of a large number of women elders who are well educated, in reasonable health, and with financial resources. What would collective action by this group make the world look like? For example, the World Health Organization says that if all girl children were educated to the 4th grade (basic literacy and numeracy) the world would dramatically change for the better.
Objectives and Format: (1) understand this unique period, through a personal story; (2) using appreciative interviews, share and collect examples of concrete actions that individual workshop participants are taking or considering taking; (3) determine if there is enough energy to select one action to pursue as a group.
Leader Bio: Page Morahan has lived within the Bryn Athyn community for the past 25 years and is a member of the Swedenborg Convention Church. Page is Founding Director of the international Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program ® for Women at Drexel University College of Medicine (www.drexelmed.edu/elam). She is also a founder and Co-Director of the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) Institutes (www.faimer.org) where she has had the great privilege to teach, travel to, and get to know wonderful health professions faculty in developing countries. Page resides in a 100+ year old barn that was previously an artist’s studio and is a founding member of Orchard Artworks cooperative in an historic farmhouse in Bryn Athyn (www.orchardartworks.org).
******************
Title: Welcoming a Variety of Perspectives on the Writings of Swedenborg
Leader: Beryl Simonetti
Background: How are the beliefs of Swedenborgians affected and changed by the new ideas about God and religion that surround us? Present-day scholarship in science, psychology and evolution have much to say to us as we attempt to find a message in Swedenborg’s works apart from his 18th century cultural and scientific context. How do we deal with the paradoxes and inconsistencies that we find?
We will consider the value of leaving some difficult questions unanswered and unresolved. We need not avoid these questions but can hold them in a way that leaves us open to further insight.
Format: Beryl will present some examples of variations in Swedenborgian thought, and some examples of recent scholarship in religious studies (two of these are Karen Armstrong’s The Case for God and Robert Wright’s The Evolution of God). We will then discuss questions in small groups and finish with general discussion. I will provide some questions to get us started, but bring your own questions for discussion!
Leader Bio: Beryl Simonetti received an MA in Counseling Psychology from Immaculata University in 1990. She is affiliated with the General Church and has been reading the works of Swedenborg since she was a college student in the 1950’s. She has an abiding interest in the interface between religion and psychology. Recently she has been guiding tours at Glencairn Museum and has been stimulated by a need for a deeper understanding of the history and development of the world’s religions.
*******************
Title: Dreams
Leader: Helen Kennedy
Brief Description & Format: My workshop will build on one I gave four years ago at GL. There will be a 15 minute talk about some of the history of dreams, and that Swedenborg's interpretation of his dreams often led him to make decisions in his life. I will include 2 or 3 examples of healing dreams. The floor will then be open for participants & me to share our personal dreams and any insights we may have into them. To this I will intersperse examples of interesting dreams when appropriate. We'll take this to the level of living with a short discussion of why the Writings say the best description of the celestial heaven is that it is a living dream, and then look into some of the Lord's dreams for us.
Leader Bio: Helen has written several works of fiction, one of which was published by Fountain Publishing. She has had numerous articles published on such diverse topics as the Most Ancient Church, ancient Irish monastic poetry, and slavery. In her personal life she loves sleeping, and finally found justification for it in the Writings where it says there are societies in heaven that love to give people beautiful, delightful, instructive dreams.
*******************
Title: Final Passage
Leader: Penny Rhodes
Background: Penny has spent many years in service often dealing with death and dying, including, in the present time, being a home funeral guide. What seems to come up the most is the LACK of communication about a100% inevitability! People just don't want to talk about death -- theirs or those of loved ones, and yet, in our lifetime, we will indeed have to deal with it.
Objectives and Format: This will be an open dialogue on that final passage called death, whether it be our own or that of a loved one. This is NOT a doctrinal discussion on "the life after death", but a sharing of our experiences of the process and reality of death itself, and its profound meaning in our lives. How do we approach this often difficult passage with grace, courage, openness, and creativity? Let's talk.
Leader Bio: Penny has been a body worker for over thirty years, and done extensive work as an EMT on an ambulance, worked for Hospice and Aids, as well as helped and cared for several friends and relatives in their dying process. She has been involved in the Home Funeral movement, and is a founding member of a group called A Natural Undertaking www.NaturalUndertaking.org
********************************
Title: Reflections on Facilitating Healing in Patients Who are in Crisis
Leader: Paige H. Sweeney
Background: Dr Eric Cassell wrote a decisive paper in 1982 stating that it is the duty of medicine to relieve suffering. We all have personal views about the value and limitations of suffering. I dare say we might agree there are different kinds of suffering. One role I am evolving in my practice as a palliative care nurse in the metropolitan university hospital is that of healer. I have been privileged to work with individuals who are either suffering with incapacitating fear due to their new diagnosis of what could be a terminal illness, or they are in fact close to the end of their earthly lives. The issue of women in ministry is one close to my heart. I would like to share my experience of how the role of healer is intertwined with my work as a palliative care nurse.
Objectives and Format: (1) Explain what palliative care is, what integrative medicine is, and how they intertwine; (2) Share personal reflections, explain and perhaps demonstrate for the group the techniques I incorporate. Share the gifts I have received when doing the healing work; (3) Facilitate discussion amongst the group about the role of healing in ministry; (4) Foster the concept of women in ministry.
Leader Bio: Paige Heinrichs Sweeney lives in Maryland with her husband and 2 children. She and her family are active members of the Washington New Church society. Born and raised in the General Church tradition of the New Christian religion, she practices nursing at a metropolitan hospital on the palliative care service. She is certified in advanced Reiki, and sound healing.
********************
Title: Meeting the Mystery
Leader: Rev. Alison Smith Longstaff
Background: Many of our Christian siblings emphasize a personal relationship with God. Swedenborg himself experienced a powerful encounter with the Lord. He writes that God is both Divine and human. How do we, as various Swedenborgian sisters, seek and find connection with our Creator, who is both infinitely Divine and immediately human?
Objectives and Format: Through discussion, sharing, meditation, journaling and dance, we will seek new ways to find connection with the God who is with us.
Leader Bio: Born and Raised in Bryn Athyn, Alison has since trained for ministry with the Swedenborgian Church of North America, being ordained in June 2009. She currently serves as assistant minister and director of music at The Church of the Good Shepherd in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
********************
Title: Dr. Kristine Mann’s Influence as a Swedenborgian on Jung
Leader: Lissa Dirrim
Description: Lissa will share her research on Dr. Kristine Mann, exploring the relationship of Swedenborg on Jung. Dr. Mann was a physician who was one of Jung's early analysands who profoundly influenced Jung's perception of the collective unconscious. She was the daughter of the prominent Convention minister Charles Holbrook Mann. He fled Convention in the conviction that church should be conducted within the commercial realm, and that following a long tenure as the editor of the Messenger. It is my understanding that Rev. Mann was dismayed by the future of bricks and boards churches, something germane to what many of us feel in this age of increasing electronic communication, observing the decline in attendance of many church traditions. Mann encouraged his daughter's intellectual pursuits, and Kristine went on to become one of the first Jungian analysts in the United States. I would like to talk about Dr. Kristine Mann's influence as a Swedenborgian (albeit apart from any of the current church affiliations) on Jung's development.
Leader Bio: Lissa is a graduate of the SHS Swedenborgian Studies program at PSR/GTU, in the academic rather than the ministry track and lives in Oakland, CA.
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Title: Sacred Circle and Sacred Folk Dancing
Leader: Christine Taylor
Description: Participants will be lead through a selection of Sacred Circle Dances and Sacred Folk Dances as a way to experience worship and connection with the Divine.
Leader Bio: Christine, as a former Music and Drama teacher at the Bryn Athyn Church Elementary School, has taught Folk Dancing of various kinds primarily to children.
*******************
Title: Be A Butterfly
Leader: None
Background and Format: Often at meetings we feel we must/should attend all the workshops, in order to learn as much as we can! Often, however, it is more important to honor whatever we need at that time. It might be to walk alone or with a friend on the lovely grounds. It might be to sit quietly and reflect on or journal about what you have heard and experienced. It might be to sit and visit with whoever comes by – being the lovely butterfly that attracts others. This space for quiet, sharing, playing or creating will be available for each of the three workshop periods.
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AND OFFERED AT ORCHARD ARTWORKS ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Title: Prayer Beads
Leader: Gail Simons
Background: When early peoples found a stone or shell with a hole in it, there was an instinct to put a cord through it and wear it on the body as a talisman. Evolving carved images worn in this way would seem to connect to the Ancient Church and correspondences. Why do different religions have differing numbers of beads in their prayer bead strands? Is there actual power in the beads?
Objectives and Format: Participants are encouraged to bring any beads or talismans that have significance to them. We will look at a brief history of objects and beads worn as “power” holders, with a focus on prayer beads. Gail will display and discuss some of her collection of amulets and prayer beads gathered for many years. This will be followed by a group discussion of how wearing these is felt to impact the wearer. Participants will then have the opportunity to put together a bracelet or necklace that could be seen as “holding” prayers. Some beads will be available and others can be purchased.
Leader Bio: Gail has been drawn to beads from her first experience of looking at National Geographic Magazines. Though she participates in the craft world by making and selling jewelry, she is also very interested in the symbolic nature and possible life enhancing qualities of body adornment, both in history and in current times.
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Title: Tour of Academy Farm Buildings
Leader: Vera Powell Glenn
Description: The original farm house was built in the 1700’s, and the other buildings were added during the 1800s. Included on the tour will be the Barn (now Bryn Athyn Thrift Shop), Carriage Shed & Corn Crib Outbuilding that once housed a chicken raising business (now store house), Stone Shed, ruin of an unusual 3 room Springhouse, and the Farmhouse (Powell House, now Orchard Artworks Gallery). The tour is an initiative of the newly formed Alnwick Grove Historical Society and will end at the gallery where autographed copies of The Apple Orchards by Vera will be available.
Leader Bio:Vera Powell Glenn grew up in the Academy Farm house where her father and grandfather grew orchards of apple and peach trees and farmed the property for the Academy. She has written several books.
Title: The spiritual role of women in the church…and beyond
Leader: Julie Conaron
Background: During the years she studied for the MA in Religious studies at Bryn Athyn theological school (2003 – 2007) Julie felt uneasy about how women were viewed in both the church and society at large the more she pursued her studies. While not a feminist – she believes women are equally valuable as men but they are definitely different - she felt there were some discrepancies in how women were spoken of in the Writings, the level of spiritual validity accorded to them by some of the organized churches, and the “derived doctrine” that prevents them becoming “official” feminine ministers in some branches of the New Church. The more she pursued her calling the more she noticed the gap widening between what she had been told for 50+ years: “women cannot be priests/ministers – the Writings say so,” and the dawning realization that the Writings do not say that at all. In fact the spiritually nurturing role of women in the church has until recently been almost ignored, although it is being done on a volunteer basis. As a result the feminine ministry, (which Julie calls the “heart” ministry) part of the church is often suffering and missing.
Objectives and Format: Julie will share some of the points she used in a paper on this subject for her New Church History course, but her goal is an interactive workshop, hearing people’s ideas, discussing what a feminine ministry would look like and how to go forward from here.
Leader Bio: Julie is actively pursuing a career as a chaplain. A former scientist who lost her job almost 2 years ago, she regarded this event as the Lord opening a door for her to pursue the ministry. She has an MA in Religious studies, one CPE unit (400 hours of Clinical Pastoral Education required for chaplaincy), a year of volunteer work in pastoral care and hospice visiting at Abington hospital, and is currently in an on-line program to become a Specialist in Pastoral Care this summer. She proposes to enter an ordination program in March to become an ordained interfaith minister in 2012.
*******************
Title: In the Image of God, Male and Female
Leader: Roslyn Taylor
Background: Archeological research from the latter part of the 20th Century indicates that the earliest people on earth worshiped a female deity. Creation scriptures in Genesis 1:27, part of the Most Ancient Word according to Swedenborg, describe the Divine being imaged in both male and female human forms. At some point after that, the Divine was worshiped for millennia as a male deity. In the Christian tradition, which is our cultural and religious inheritance, the Divine is called “Our Father.” Several questions arise from this sequence of events. Does the Divine include both the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine, or only one of them? Does the Divine transcend gender altogether? What about the Divine Human described in Swedenborg’s theological writings?
Objectives and Format: We will take a compassionate look at the issues around gender and the Divine by 1) Responding individually to visual art depictions of male and female deities, 2) Becoming familiar with relevant concepts through a review of Biblical and Swedenborgian teachings, 3) In small group discussion, considering how our responses to the artwork and theological concepts impact our relationships with the Divine, with ourselves, with our significant others, and with our faith community.
Leader Bio: Roslyn Taylor has written and spoken within Swedenborgian/New Church faith communities on issues in Swedenborgian theology of interest especially to women. This workshop is based on thesis work she did for her MA in Religious Studies from the Academy of the New Church in Bryn Athyn, PA, USA. The daughter and granddaughter of New Church ministers, Roslyn is an adjunct staff hospital chaplain, leads a Home Church in Bryn Athyn, and is pursuing ordination as a New Church minister. Roslyn lives in Huntingdon Valley, PA and is the blessed mother of four young adult children.
*******************
Title: An Experiential Guide to Reading the Writings
Leaders: Gray Glenn and Siri Hurst
Background, Objectives and Format: This workshop could be useful if you are someone who intends to use the Writings as a tool for your spiritual life, but feel blocked in the "how" of it. We will present a six-step approach to applying the Word of the Lord to daily life for personal transformation. The work will create an awareness of how even the most mundane aspects of life can be transformed into a greater spiritual awakening. Each participant will be given readings from the Writings from which to engage in this process. This six-step program is based on Logopraxis, the work of Rev. David Millar of the Australian New Church. He is seeking a communicable way to “practice the Word”.
Participants who sign-up for this workshop are encouraged to send a number from the Writings to Gray Glenn ahead of time; the number offered being one that the participant struggles to know how to apply to her own life. Send to: 3585 RT 737 Kempton, PA or email to [email protected]
Leaders Bios: Gray has been a serious student of the Writings for 45 years. The last 5 of those years she has discovered a whole new dimension to the life of religion through Logopraxis. Gray keeps a Kindergarten at the Swedenborgian Kempton New Church School with the constant question on her mind, “What is good for children?” She has cultural and historic roots in the General Church. Siri has had a lifelong involvement with the Lord’s New Church and is presently on the Board of Directors. She taught for twenty one years at the Academy of the New Church and then worked at Glencairn Museum. For the past year she has studied the Arcana with Rev. David Millar of the Australian New Church using the six-step approach. Her affiliation is with The Lord’s New Church.
******************
Title: Revelation of Spirit in the Novels of Dorothy Canfield and Elizabeth Goudge
Leader: Linda Simonetti Odhner
Background: American Dorothy Canfield (Fisher) and British Elizabeth Goudge, writing in the early and mid-twentieth century respectively, produced novels that were unfashionably domestic, idealistic, and uplifting. Their work was generally dismissed as "Second-tier fiction" or "women's fiction," AKA "chick lit." But this label doesn't remotely do them justice. (Dorothy Canfield's work did attract notice in its time; her book The Brimming Cup was the second-best seller in the US in 1922, after Sinclair Lewis' Arrowsmith.) Each author in her own way shows how human beings live simultaneously in the spiritual and natural worlds, and shines a perceptive and compassionate light on personal struggle and growth. Those of us who wonder what "New Church literature" might look like have much to learn from the deep-hearted writing of these two wise women.
Objectives and Format: I will read aloud illustrative excerpts from a selection of Canfield and Goudge's fiction and we will discuss them. Feel free to bring your knitting. Anyone who would like to read some of the books ahead of time may request a book list from me.
Leader Bio: Linda Simonetti Odhner has been reading novels since shortly before age nine, and been inspired, moved, and transported by them for over 40 years. She edited Theta Alpha Journal for nine years, and professionally coaches both creative and research writers. She was editor of the New Church Round Robin Story Exchange (started by Laurel Odhner Powell) for a while. She is working on writing her own fiction, but the only book she has completed is a fan novel, Harry Potter and the Auror's Ransom. She loves to read aloud to her family and anyone else who will listen.
*******************
Title: How Women Elders Can Save the World
Leader: Page Morahan
Background: Global experts, scholars and religious leaders suggest the world needs to rebalance the masculine and feminine approaches to life to heal the wounds of war and move to a new order of respectful collaboration. We are in a unique period in the history of the world – the presence of a large number of women elders who are well educated, in reasonable health, and with financial resources. What would collective action by this group make the world look like? For example, the World Health Organization says that if all girl children were educated to the 4th grade (basic literacy and numeracy) the world would dramatically change for the better.
Objectives and Format: (1) understand this unique period, through a personal story; (2) using appreciative interviews, share and collect examples of concrete actions that individual workshop participants are taking or considering taking; (3) determine if there is enough energy to select one action to pursue as a group.
Leader Bio: Page Morahan has lived within the Bryn Athyn community for the past 25 years and is a member of the Swedenborg Convention Church. Page is Founding Director of the international Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program ® for Women at Drexel University College of Medicine (www.drexelmed.edu/elam). She is also a founder and Co-Director of the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) Institutes (www.faimer.org) where she has had the great privilege to teach, travel to, and get to know wonderful health professions faculty in developing countries. Page resides in a 100+ year old barn that was previously an artist’s studio and is a founding member of Orchard Artworks cooperative in an historic farmhouse in Bryn Athyn (www.orchardartworks.org).
******************
Title: Welcoming a Variety of Perspectives on the Writings of Swedenborg
Leader: Beryl Simonetti
Background: How are the beliefs of Swedenborgians affected and changed by the new ideas about God and religion that surround us? Present-day scholarship in science, psychology and evolution have much to say to us as we attempt to find a message in Swedenborg’s works apart from his 18th century cultural and scientific context. How do we deal with the paradoxes and inconsistencies that we find?
We will consider the value of leaving some difficult questions unanswered and unresolved. We need not avoid these questions but can hold them in a way that leaves us open to further insight.
Format: Beryl will present some examples of variations in Swedenborgian thought, and some examples of recent scholarship in religious studies (two of these are Karen Armstrong’s The Case for God and Robert Wright’s The Evolution of God). We will then discuss questions in small groups and finish with general discussion. I will provide some questions to get us started, but bring your own questions for discussion!
Leader Bio: Beryl Simonetti received an MA in Counseling Psychology from Immaculata University in 1990. She is affiliated with the General Church and has been reading the works of Swedenborg since she was a college student in the 1950’s. She has an abiding interest in the interface between religion and psychology. Recently she has been guiding tours at Glencairn Museum and has been stimulated by a need for a deeper understanding of the history and development of the world’s religions.
*******************
Title: Dreams
Leader: Helen Kennedy
Brief Description & Format: My workshop will build on one I gave four years ago at GL. There will be a 15 minute talk about some of the history of dreams, and that Swedenborg's interpretation of his dreams often led him to make decisions in his life. I will include 2 or 3 examples of healing dreams. The floor will then be open for participants & me to share our personal dreams and any insights we may have into them. To this I will intersperse examples of interesting dreams when appropriate. We'll take this to the level of living with a short discussion of why the Writings say the best description of the celestial heaven is that it is a living dream, and then look into some of the Lord's dreams for us.
Leader Bio: Helen has written several works of fiction, one of which was published by Fountain Publishing. She has had numerous articles published on such diverse topics as the Most Ancient Church, ancient Irish monastic poetry, and slavery. In her personal life she loves sleeping, and finally found justification for it in the Writings where it says there are societies in heaven that love to give people beautiful, delightful, instructive dreams.
*******************
Title: Final Passage
Leader: Penny Rhodes
Background: Penny has spent many years in service often dealing with death and dying, including, in the present time, being a home funeral guide. What seems to come up the most is the LACK of communication about a100% inevitability! People just don't want to talk about death -- theirs or those of loved ones, and yet, in our lifetime, we will indeed have to deal with it.
Objectives and Format: This will be an open dialogue on that final passage called death, whether it be our own or that of a loved one. This is NOT a doctrinal discussion on "the life after death", but a sharing of our experiences of the process and reality of death itself, and its profound meaning in our lives. How do we approach this often difficult passage with grace, courage, openness, and creativity? Let's talk.
Leader Bio: Penny has been a body worker for over thirty years, and done extensive work as an EMT on an ambulance, worked for Hospice and Aids, as well as helped and cared for several friends and relatives in their dying process. She has been involved in the Home Funeral movement, and is a founding member of a group called A Natural Undertaking www.NaturalUndertaking.org
********************************
Title: Reflections on Facilitating Healing in Patients Who are in Crisis
Leader: Paige H. Sweeney
Background: Dr Eric Cassell wrote a decisive paper in 1982 stating that it is the duty of medicine to relieve suffering. We all have personal views about the value and limitations of suffering. I dare say we might agree there are different kinds of suffering. One role I am evolving in my practice as a palliative care nurse in the metropolitan university hospital is that of healer. I have been privileged to work with individuals who are either suffering with incapacitating fear due to their new diagnosis of what could be a terminal illness, or they are in fact close to the end of their earthly lives. The issue of women in ministry is one close to my heart. I would like to share my experience of how the role of healer is intertwined with my work as a palliative care nurse.
Objectives and Format: (1) Explain what palliative care is, what integrative medicine is, and how they intertwine; (2) Share personal reflections, explain and perhaps demonstrate for the group the techniques I incorporate. Share the gifts I have received when doing the healing work; (3) Facilitate discussion amongst the group about the role of healing in ministry; (4) Foster the concept of women in ministry.
Leader Bio: Paige Heinrichs Sweeney lives in Maryland with her husband and 2 children. She and her family are active members of the Washington New Church society. Born and raised in the General Church tradition of the New Christian religion, she practices nursing at a metropolitan hospital on the palliative care service. She is certified in advanced Reiki, and sound healing.
********************
Title: Meeting the Mystery
Leader: Rev. Alison Smith Longstaff
Background: Many of our Christian siblings emphasize a personal relationship with God. Swedenborg himself experienced a powerful encounter with the Lord. He writes that God is both Divine and human. How do we, as various Swedenborgian sisters, seek and find connection with our Creator, who is both infinitely Divine and immediately human?
Objectives and Format: Through discussion, sharing, meditation, journaling and dance, we will seek new ways to find connection with the God who is with us.
Leader Bio: Born and Raised in Bryn Athyn, Alison has since trained for ministry with the Swedenborgian Church of North America, being ordained in June 2009. She currently serves as assistant minister and director of music at The Church of the Good Shepherd in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
********************
Title: Dr. Kristine Mann’s Influence as a Swedenborgian on Jung
Leader: Lissa Dirrim
Description: Lissa will share her research on Dr. Kristine Mann, exploring the relationship of Swedenborg on Jung. Dr. Mann was a physician who was one of Jung's early analysands who profoundly influenced Jung's perception of the collective unconscious. She was the daughter of the prominent Convention minister Charles Holbrook Mann. He fled Convention in the conviction that church should be conducted within the commercial realm, and that following a long tenure as the editor of the Messenger. It is my understanding that Rev. Mann was dismayed by the future of bricks and boards churches, something germane to what many of us feel in this age of increasing electronic communication, observing the decline in attendance of many church traditions. Mann encouraged his daughter's intellectual pursuits, and Kristine went on to become one of the first Jungian analysts in the United States. I would like to talk about Dr. Kristine Mann's influence as a Swedenborgian (albeit apart from any of the current church affiliations) on Jung's development.
Leader Bio: Lissa is a graduate of the SHS Swedenborgian Studies program at PSR/GTU, in the academic rather than the ministry track and lives in Oakland, CA.
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Title: Sacred Circle and Sacred Folk Dancing
Leader: Christine Taylor
Description: Participants will be lead through a selection of Sacred Circle Dances and Sacred Folk Dances as a way to experience worship and connection with the Divine.
Leader Bio: Christine, as a former Music and Drama teacher at the Bryn Athyn Church Elementary School, has taught Folk Dancing of various kinds primarily to children.
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Title: Be A Butterfly
Leader: None
Background and Format: Often at meetings we feel we must/should attend all the workshops, in order to learn as much as we can! Often, however, it is more important to honor whatever we need at that time. It might be to walk alone or with a friend on the lovely grounds. It might be to sit quietly and reflect on or journal about what you have heard and experienced. It might be to sit and visit with whoever comes by – being the lovely butterfly that attracts others. This space for quiet, sharing, playing or creating will be available for each of the three workshop periods.
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AND OFFERED AT ORCHARD ARTWORKS ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Title: Prayer Beads
Leader: Gail Simons
Background: When early peoples found a stone or shell with a hole in it, there was an instinct to put a cord through it and wear it on the body as a talisman. Evolving carved images worn in this way would seem to connect to the Ancient Church and correspondences. Why do different religions have differing numbers of beads in their prayer bead strands? Is there actual power in the beads?
Objectives and Format: Participants are encouraged to bring any beads or talismans that have significance to them. We will look at a brief history of objects and beads worn as “power” holders, with a focus on prayer beads. Gail will display and discuss some of her collection of amulets and prayer beads gathered for many years. This will be followed by a group discussion of how wearing these is felt to impact the wearer. Participants will then have the opportunity to put together a bracelet or necklace that could be seen as “holding” prayers. Some beads will be available and others can be purchased.
Leader Bio: Gail has been drawn to beads from her first experience of looking at National Geographic Magazines. Though she participates in the craft world by making and selling jewelry, she is also very interested in the symbolic nature and possible life enhancing qualities of body adornment, both in history and in current times.
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Title: Tour of Academy Farm Buildings
Leader: Vera Powell Glenn
Description: The original farm house was built in the 1700’s, and the other buildings were added during the 1800s. Included on the tour will be the Barn (now Bryn Athyn Thrift Shop), Carriage Shed & Corn Crib Outbuilding that once housed a chicken raising business (now store house), Stone Shed, ruin of an unusual 3 room Springhouse, and the Farmhouse (Powell House, now Orchard Artworks Gallery). The tour is an initiative of the newly formed Alnwick Grove Historical Society and will end at the gallery where autographed copies of The Apple Orchards by Vera will be available.
Leader Bio:Vera Powell Glenn grew up in the Academy Farm house where her father and grandfather grew orchards of apple and peach trees and farmed the property for the Academy. She has written several books.
