The Uses Trust
Ltd.
EXAMPLES OF FUTURE INITIATIVES
Introduction
There are many potential uses that deserve attention in support of New Church progress during the third millennium. The objective in this brief outline is to identify a first six examples of initiatives, which will assuredly be followed by others, to give an idea of ways in which the branches of the New Church could cooperatively present themselves in new approaches to the larger world. People don't know much about us any more. We have to change that. If the New Church is to make its mark, it must include cooperative initiatives such as the ones you will read about below.
Initiative Number One "The Use of WIST™"
WIST is an acronym of the Functions: Will; Imagination; Sensation; and Thought, the inter- relationships of which provide a gender-neutral method for measuring job-related strengths - - what we call Occupational Compatibility. WIST has been proven effective in determining beneficial career paths, and it lends itself to self-scoring on a website designed for that purpose. The objective of providing WIST in this format is to offer it to consumers at a reasonable price in order to fund specific church-related objectives, including the Initiatives themselves Properly marketed, this effort can produce significant income owing to its successful track record in career-counselling use.
Initiative Number Two "The New Church Information Package"
Through wise marketing practices we should make it easy for any individual anywhere in the world, who has access to the World Wide Web, to encounter a New Church website. Such a surfer would immediately become aware that a package of professionally designed and produced information was readily available. This package would include written and audio-visual materials that had been assembled and field tested widely for use in presenting our Swedenborgian faith in a way that fostered maximum comprehension of New Church theology. The package would also include identities of individuals who had volunteered as contact persons so that those seeking to know more would have a real live person to communicate with.
Initiative Number Three "An Annual Prize in the Form of a Monetary Award"
An annual monetary award is worthy of consideration. It could occur regularly at a selected season of the year and, over time, generate considerable anticipation and enthusiasm. Books and articles come immediately to mind. Another thought would be an individual lecture or, perhaps, a series. Another possibility would include convocations on timely subjects. The suggestion here ( which doesn't really replace the previous notions ) is an award for the best work in support of the New Church - - work that could be distributed in both print and CD. Ordinarily one would expect that the prize would be for verbal material , but that would not always have to be the case. Fine art or music or architecture could compete as well. Accomplishment of a noteworthy use could be the subject. Various media could certainly advance awareness of our Church. Making such awareness the criterion for an award would encourage a healthy volume of submissions from such varied sources. The prospects are truly intriguing.
Initiative Number Four "The Writings on CD"
There is persuasive evidence that far more individuals learn effectively through hearing material rather than through reading it. Words with which we are familiar contain ideas that we have become accustomed to, and when we hear them they enter our thinking directly. When we read them, they are mediated by symbols known as letters and this mediation injects an extra step in the process of understanding them. For many of us, more than you might imagine, letters comprise difficult abstractions that make reading a considerable chore. Of course we all have to read with reasonable skill in order to follow instructions and obtain essential information. However, left to our own choices, many of us don't read any more than we have to. And if we do read, it is more for light entertainment than for lasting learning. It is for this reason that the ability to "hear" The Writings is so essential to any wide distribution of Emanuel Swedenborg's doctrine. There are countless souls who would prefer to hear him than read him.
Initiative Number Five "Mitchell on Disc"
Rev. Mitchell's texts should never have gone out of print; they are that valuable. But we can still rectify a mistake and produce a more useful source of information than ever before by presenting the parables as talking books. More of us learn better by hearing material than by reading it - - one reason why sermons and lectures will never die. The style is a bit dated; however it is easy to understand as are many classics. The concept suggested here is that various men and women would share the reading. It is essential that they have pleasant voices because, unless the voice is appealing, auditory learning suffers. The CD could be made available at a nominal profit to be used in the furtherance of other Initiatives
Initiative Number Six "New Church Presence at Conspicuous Centers of Learning"
Any individual pursuing a theological course of study at or near a major center of learning, such as Cambridge, Massachusetts, should have access to one or more courses in New Church theology and/or history. These courses should be taught at such a level and be of such a quality that they command degree credit at the institution(s) in or near the center. For such an initiative to take root in more than one location, a demonstration program must be designed and implemented and accepted by an institution of distinguished quality, such as Harvard University. The impact of this initiative can be such that it not only encourages the development of additional Swedenborgian ministers, but also fosters the spread of New Church appreciation where, currently, there is none or very little. At this time, such an ambitious initiative may seem beyond reach; however, its fulfillment is entirely within the scope of the longer-term development of this salient effort in support of the New Church.
Observation
Currently, our Swedenborgian faith occupies discrete Church branches. With this in mind, it is noteworthy that objectives common to several interests often blur whatever differences separate them. If these objectives are useful over the long term, such differences can fall by the wayside as successful efforts place them in their truly minor perspective viewed against the backdrop of what is being accomplished together. These Initiatives thus have the potential to confer a healing quality, born of joint achievement, that is especially applicable to our Church as it seeks to present the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg to a spiritually hungry world.