CALIFORNIA DIGEST2014
A Newsletter for New Church residents and friends of Californiaorg June
1
Throwing Stones
by Rev. Dr. Thane Glenn
(Taken from New Church Connections magazine)
Let's look at the story of the Woman Caught in Adultery in John 8:1-11.
Did Jesus care more about people or about the Scriptures?
That was the dilemma cast before Him, abruptly and unceremoniously, in the person of an unnamed woman exposed in the sexual act of an adulterous affair.
No doubt most of us have heard or read the story many times. How the religious leaders of the Jewish people interrupted Jesus as He was teaching in the Jerusalem temple, thrust the sinner in her shame before Him, and demanded His verdict. “Now Moses, in the Torah, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do you say?”
They were right: the Scriptures do pronounce the penalty for adultery to be death by stoning (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 17:2-5). What would this radical teacher of the Law, healer, notorious champion of the downtrodden, reply?
Think of what was at stake in this moment. What if Jesus Christ, God-with-us, had responded, No, be merciful—don’t stone her? To do so would have been to discount the truth of the Scriptures, to discredit Himself as a religious authority—not only with the Pharisees—but with all humankind. How could the One who proclaimed that He came not to destroy but to fulfill the Law say such a thing (Matthew 5:17)?
On the other hand, what if He had conceded? Imagine if He had said, Yes, if that’s the law, she must be stoned. How could we ever turn to Jesus Christ as our all-loving God? And what about the woman in the temple—deep in her shame, having likely just jeopardized her marriage, maybe her neighbor’s marriage, probably confused, flustered, scared to death. How could she ever see in this Man the face of her God?
Did Jesus care more about people or about the Scriptures? Which do we care more about?
His answer, when it came, neither dismissed the Law nor conceded to the brutal punishment the religious leaders had in store for the adulteress. Its wisdom penetrated the conscience of those standing by to the point that every one of them dropped his accusatory stone and walked away. “Whoever is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
It is a profound answer, one that contains more than we might first expect. To explore it more deeply, consider a peculiar detail in the story, worth pausing over. We read that before Jesus replied, he stooped and wrote on the ground. This apparently meditative action is not some typical habit of Christ’s. Nowhere else do the Gospels record Him stooping to write on the ground. Why would the Gospel writer think it a significant detail to include here?
Almost every place the Gospels mention writing, it makes reference to the Law—the Old Testament Scriptures. Think of all the times Jesus says, “It is written.” Why might Jesus write on the ground before answering the Pharisees? Perhaps He is making symbolic reference to the Law, the Scriptures, and then in His response offering a commentary on them. Something along the lines of His refrain in His sermon on the mountain—“You have heard it said… moreover I say to you…”—in which He repeatedly cites an Old Testament Scripture and then infills the outward action—murder, adultery, etc.—with the inner landscape of our spiritual lives (Matthew 5:21-48). Unjust anger in our hearts is spiritual murder, spiritual adultery is lust.
When Jesus told the Pharisees in the temple to look to their own sin before casting stones, He called on them to spiritually stone to death their own deeply interior, monstrous form of adultery. Rocks in hand, they were prostituting the Law, seducing God’s words to copulate with hatred, malice, an accusing spirit ( see Apocalypse Explained 222).
Jesus saved three that day. He gave one woman the chance to apply the Scriptures to her own heart, to sin no more, to begin the work of amending her broken life. He saved the leaders of the Jews from confirming themselves in a horrific spiritual crime. And He provided us with a profoundly necessary model for how to read the Scriptures. To see them as always about us, to take their rebuke and promise inside, to our own hearts, to our own spiritual landscapes.
Elsewhere, Jesus taught that all the Scriptures have at their heart love of God and love to the neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40). On that day in the temple, He offered us a way to read even a brutal injunction to death by stoning as the loving promise of the One who wants to give each of us a new heart and a renewed spirit.
News for the Philippines
By Mary Jane Junge
Thursday, March 27th, 2014, was an historic day for the New Christian Church School in the Philippines. On that day, our beautiful new school building was dedicated. The school dedication followed this year’s baccalaureate service, which was given by Bishop Ian Arnold and was held at the New Christian Church, just down the street. Bishop Arnold spoke about building lives on a strong foundation, as in the parable of the house built upon a rock. Our teachers work to help build a foundation for success in school and faith in God.
After the baccalaureate service, everyone walked to the school for the dedication ceremony. As we entered the playground, we could see the school’s mission and vision statements, which are beautifully painted on the front wall of the school yard.
The school has two air conditioned classrooms, which can each accommodate 25 students. With morning and afternoon sessions, we expect our school to have 100 students and a waiting list when the next session begins, in June. The school also has an office, modern bathrooms, an area for serving meals, and a nice playground.
Following the ribbon cutting, Rev Trevor Moffat and Bishop Arnold presented gifts from New Church members in Australia to the school, a Bible stand for each classroom and a framed copy of the Church’s Statement of Faith to be hung in the school entry. Merlita Rogers spoke of the history of the school and explained that the building was really the vision of Freya King, wife of Bishop Louis King, who wanted more children to have access to a good church education. Merlita thanked those who had worked hard to bring Freya’s dream to reality by raising funds for construction and salaries--Ian Arnold, Trevor Moffat, Ralph Junge, Geraldo Gomes, and Bergen Junge--and those people and organizations who had been major donors, such as the Asplundh Foundation and the New Church of England’s Trust. The PTA and children provided music and dance for entertainment, and a delicious meal was served to all after the dedication.
Graduation was Friday evening at a nearby public school facility, which could accommodate all of the children and families. Students wore graduation caps and gowns and each received a diploma. A number of students were given awards for top academics, behavior, and character. The children presented “The Good Samaritan”, sang, and did folk dances. The PTA again entertained with music and dance.
Modern Dance Presentation
Philippines News
SCHOOL INAUGURATION
March 28, 2014 by Rev. Merlita B. Rogers
Good morning, brothers and sisters in Christ. It is indeed a great pleasure for me, to welcome our distinguished guests who traveled afar, to share our joys in the celebration of the inauguration of the New Christian Church School building. The Bishops of the Philippines New Jerusalem Church, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Ian Arnold and his assistant, Bishop Trevor Moffat, join with me in welcoming our special guests, Mr. Bergen Junge and his lovely wife, Mary Jane Junge,and Rev. Wendell Barnett. Let us give them a round of applause. Welcome. Your presence speaks volumes of your love and care to the New Church in the Philippines and her accomplishments, of which you, Bergen, also play an important role.
Today is another historical gathering for the New Church in the Philippines. I say another because the first historical time was when our Church was reestablished with the Lord’s Divine Providence, under the auspices of His servants, the late Rt. Rev. Bishop Louis King, and Mr. Ralph Junge, who both have passed away, and Mr. Geraldo Gomes, who still is the PNJC treasurer in the USA.
As well, it is also the Lord’s Divine Providence that Bishop Arnold, who we lovingly call Ian, took over the leadership of the PNJC with his assistant, the Rev. Trevor Moffat, when Bishop King and Ralph Junge had retired and were called into the other world. Since then, Ian and Trevor have dedicated their whole being in leading the PNJC with the vision to spread the Word and the Writings in the Philippines archipelago. We work together as a team, inspiring and consoling each other whenever we face difficult problems - which are NOT few - thus our motto becomes, “With the Lord’s love and guidance we will succeed.”
And here we are, with Ian’s and Trevor’s genuine love to the PNJC and their strong determination to succeed with their strong faith in God, the long awaited school building is constructed and ready to use starting this coming school year in June.
Building a New Christian Church School in Bataan was a dream of Freya King, wife of Bishop Louis King. When she saw our students studying in a small portion of the church down the street, an idea was born. She established the Freya King Endowment Fund with the goal of having a Kindergarten-Preparatory School to serve our community. Then Ian and Trevor moved heaven and earth, so to speak, to materialize this beautiful dream of Freya’s.
They undertook what seemed to be an impossible dream, and they worked together with Mr. Bergen Junge and Mr. Geraldo Gomes of the New Church San Diego Society; with full participation and cooperation of the pastor and members of the New Church Tagalog Congregation, also of the San Diego society.
Bergen is a nephew of Ralph Junge who was then the “pilot” of our team in raising funds; and when he passed away, Bergen bravely stepped into his uncle’s “territory,” to our extreme delight, and joined forces with us to be of help to the Philippines New Church and its goals.
To start the School Project, Ian sought help from the Asplundh Foundation to buy a piece of land where the school could be built; while Bergen approached some donors in the USA for the same purpose. Then, Ian wrote and approached the New Church of England Homelands Trust where he secured a very generous donation that put our fund raising effort over the top, one year ago, allowing us to begin construction.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the undying effort and perseverance of Bishop Arnold and Bishop Moffat for ALL the hard work they have done and are still doing for the benefit of our church and our school. I also would like to express my appreciation to Bergen for his participation in our endeavor, thus solidifies our ambition for the Lord’s Vineyard here in the Philippines. I can find no words to express my gratitude to them and thankfulness to our Lord, that through them, with the Lord’s guidance, the New Church in the Philippines and our school are moving ahead with the Lord’s blessings. So here we are today, joyously celebrating and thanking God, for we now have a new building for the New Christian Church School.
Freya King’s dream was materialized for the benefit of so many children whose parents cannot afford to send them to a very expensive private school. Here, at the PNCCS, Philippines New Christian Church School, we have a splendid teaching staff and an enviable reputation for its high standards and excellently-behaved children.
Without ado, let me present to you our special guests. Please stand up as I call your name. Mr. Bergen Junge, his wife, Mary Jane Junge and Rev. Wendel Barnett. Your presence conveyed to us that we are no longer the orphan church that we were a long time ago.
Welcome and welcome to everyone who is here and celebrating with us. Thank you all for coming. And now, let us all raise our hand and together we say, Purihin ang Panginoon na tumulong sa amin upang maganap ang mga bagay na ito, sapagkat ang Panginoon ay mabuti at ang Kanyang kaawaan at kahabagan ay magpakailan man.
Palo Alto News
Rev. Jean Atta recently visited Central California and Palo Alto as a prelude to his new assignment serving the New Church in California from Los Angeles. He will devote the majority of his time to developing the Church in the LA area, but will also serve Central California and Palo Alto. It's a mundane but important consideration that the cost of bringing him here for services is a fraction of bringing someone from the East coast. It is also important that we can build a relationship more locally, perhaps even developing a year-long lectionary between Mark and Jean. Very Good News!!
Our next service is June 15th with Rev. Mark Perry, which will be a Holy Supper service. We will also have an annual meeting at that time. The roster and schedule of ministers serving us in FY15 is in development.
We look forward to seeing you at Church.
-Hannah & Jonathan
Introducing Reverend Jean Atta
Born and raised Catholic in the Ivory Coast, I only felt religiously satisfied when I found the Writings of the New Church. In 2008 I flew to Bryn Athyn for Theological School. I got my Master’s in Divinity in May, 2012, and was ordained the next day. I am preparing for a big church plant in the Ivory Coast, for which I would appreciate your support!
I am excited about my new assignment in Los Angeles and serving the New Church in California.
Los Angeles News
Second Minister Appointed for the State of California
There is no church service scheduled for the month of June as we prepare to welcome our new resident pastor, Rev. Jean Atta, to the lovely manse in La Crescenta.
After over a decade without a pastor in Los Angeles, Bishop Keith has approved our request to call Rev. Jean Kamanen Atta to serve.
Except instead of only being called as pastor to the Los Angeles Society of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, Rev. Atta is appointed the second minister in California. This means that, along with Rev. Mark Perry of San Diego, he will serve the good folks in the Palo Alto congregation in Northern California, as well as quarterly visits to Central California. Jean’s primary task is to grow the Los Angeles church, and he is a man with lots of new ideas and plenty of zeal for the job!
Jean and his wife, Tekedra, flew out to see the manse and meet some of the Los Angeles group on May 24. It was a very brief visit, but they managed to see much of the area and enjoy a fun evening barbeque at the manse. July 1 is the target date for Jean to make the move. Tekedra is planning to join Jean in LA as soon as she is able to transfer her position at Amtrak, where she has worked for many years.
Rev. Atta was able to come out for this year’s Festival of Books, and has preached twice in all three areas of California in which he will serve. Mark Heinrichs, President of the LA Board, is enthusiastic about the move. “I am very hopeful that Jean is the good fit we have been looking for,” he says. “He is ready for a challenge – which is great. We will give him 100% support.”
Welcome, Jean and Tekedra!! We look forward to reporting more good news on the transfer through the summer.
San Diego News
June Announcements
On Sunday, June 15th, following our regular Sunday serviceand in celebration of June 19th, our Senior and Junior Sunday school children will be putting on an impromptu play entitled ‘The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares’.
LAST REMINDER: We will be having our June 19th picnic on Sunday, June 22nd at the Guajome Regional Park in Oceanside – same venue as last year! The service will begin at 10:00 am, so give yourself plenty of time to arrive and get settled. Directions have been circulated – if you still need a map, please ask our Pastor or Mike Perry. A sign up list for our Picnic Pot luck is on the notice board. Don’t forget to bring your fold up chairs, a hat, water, sunscreen and bread for the quantities of excited geese and ducks!