< Back to menu

An article by the Rev. Bradley Heinrichs

From the November Issue of The Chronicle

In the September issue of the Chronicle, I focused on the Carmel New Church School theme for the year, "Reawakening the Vision of New Church Education." In this article I would like to focus on some of the exciting evangelization and outreach efforts that are underway.

We have been doing a much better job recently at getting people through our doors so that they become familiar with where we are and who we are in an unthreatening manner. The Noodle Nest playgroup has had great success this year. Almost every week there are new faces and all have been giving rave reviews about the program Sonja Maciaczyk-Hanley has been running with the help of Theresa Tait.

The YMCA "After School Antics" program has been meeting every weekday afternoon in the gym and that consistently brings 15 adults through our doors, who may have never known that we existed before. A side benefit is that Kayla Uniac is the person they chose to supervise the children.

The High School Youth Program is also off to a good start this year as well. Two teens who are not a part of our Church have been attending, and there is hope for more. The average attendance is up from 7 to 10 and it should increase even more when the game room is completed downstairs. I would encourage any of our youth to bring a friend along to join in the fun.

In October, Anthony Stewart's band concert drew about 70 people, one third of which were not part of our Church. This event raised $300.00 for the Men's Group which in turn donated it to completing the Youth Room. In November, we are putting on a Halloween Ball and a Family Fun Night both of which are open to the community. So I would urge you to invite your friends outside the Church to come.

We have solidified our identity with the logo of the Open Word, put up new signs, designed new letterhead, and have the beginnings of a sharp looking web page in place. The groundwork has been laid for the beginning of a serious evangelization initiative, now all we are waiting for is the necessary funds to see it through. In light of these exciting developments, I thought it would be useful to summarize just a few of the key reasons why we should all be enthusiastic about evangelization.

First, the Writings define evangelization as "annunciation about the Lord, His coming, and the things that are from Him which belong to salvation and eternal life" (AC 9925:2). This is our job - to annunciate the wonderful new truths that we have at our disposal. These truths are the leaves of the tree meant for the healing of the nations mentioned in the Book of Revelation. We are to share these life giving truths with all who are willing to hear. One of the most compelling passages I found calling for us to share this New Revelation we have been given states that

"the things contained in the internal sense...are not to be kept silent. There may be some who will comprehend them. They who are in the desire of knowing such things, that is, who are in the affection of spiritual good and truth" (AC 3974:3).

In evangelization our primary motivation should not be numbers, but helping people by sharing our light. This is directly taught in the Lord's Sermon on the Mount:

"You are the light of the world. Do not light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand where it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (John 5:14-16).

There is also another obvious reason why we should evangelize - because it is charitable and expresses a real love towards the neighbor. We are told that through the internal church

"there is an influx of good and truth from the Lord, and therefore through the external there must be efflux into life, that is, into the exercise of charity" (AC 5828:3).

So what form should the exercise of charity take in New Church evangelization?

One example is given in Deuteronomy, where we are told

"The Lord your God shows no partiality... He administers justice and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt" (Deut.10:17-19).

This passage reveals some very crucial teachings regarding evangelization and charity. Namely, that we should love those outside the church without prejudice and offer them the truths that will sustain both their spiritual and natural minds, represented by giving them food and clothing (AC 9003). It also exhorts us to be charitable and urges us to remember, that whether we were born in the church or came into it, that we were all once in a situation where we were the stranger or the outsider. We are told that

"charity is practiced if, through the truth of the church, the neighbor is led to good... For everyone must first obtain for himself the truth from the doctrine of the church, and afterward from the Word of the Lord" (AC 6822, cf. DP 254:1).

Another sound reason as to why we should evangelize is that through the increase in members we will be perfected as a Church and come into greater joy as we serve our neighbor by sharing the beautiful teachings that we have. For the Writings tell us that "the angels know no greater happiness than in teaching and instructing the spirits who arrive from the world" (AC 454). Further, they teach that "every society of heaven increases in number daily, and as it increases it becomes more perfect" (HH 71). Therefore, it seems we would be wise to follow this angelic example, in our evangelization efforts.

I'll conclude this plug for the necessity of evangelization with a quote from one of our former great Canadian ministers. Ninety-six years ago, Rev. Fred Waelchli wrote an article in New Church Life exhorting us to evangelize and warning us of the consequences if we do not. I would invite you to reflect upon the gravity of his words:

"Without this use, without the reception and initiation of new people, the church cannot be perpetuated...and will die out." (Evangel. NCL, 1907, p. 460)