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Gillian Mayer

On September 25th the Ladies and Gentleman of the Historical Society of Cincinnati, Ohio came to our historic church in Glendale. They wanted to see the church and also have a program with information about our historic building and about our religion. Due to a separate historical society seminar our Pastor could not be here and so Helene Howard and I stepped in and gave the tour.

The 45 men and women sat listening attentively for more than one hour as Helene gave details about the building of the church in 1861 and the architecture and the addition added after we purchased the church. Helene also covered some of the history of our church and information about Swedenborg.

I asked the audience for hands if anyone had spoken for half an hour to a large group about their religion. No one had, and this was a first for me also. I proceeded to read small quotes and describe some of the 32 volumes written by Swedenborg, displayed on a table in the front of the room, and also used collateral literature to help. At the end of the talk every free copy of Heaven and Hell was taken, as well as pamphlets.

Not one member of the Historical Society, an intelligent and well-read group, had any prior knowledge of the teachings of our church! Until now. We all adjourned to a lovely lunch in the church hall and they thanked us for a most enjoyable and educational morning.