I would like to give credit to the very talented Ayisha Synnestvedt who created the gorgeous pastel artwork especially for this blog. The beautiful image is of a woman inside the Holy City New Jerusalem. Wow! Thank you, Ayisha!
All posts by Eden Lumsden
Call for a New Christian Women’s Ministry
As a Swedenborgian, who grew up far outside any GC “society”, I had many opportunities in my childhood to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the other religious organizations around me. My family drove the hour to church each Sunday, but we were often the only family with kids to show up. My friends were mostly Mormons (with a few Catholics and a Protestant thrown in).
With Mormons, discussing your religion and comparing it to other perspectives is common practice. I had frequent conversations throughout my childhood where I was asked to compare my Swedenborgian faith to others. These friendly conversations became very satisfying to me; the more I analyzed the doctrines of the people around me the more impressed I became with the clarity and consistency of the New Christianity.
However, I still deeply envied my Mormon friends. For although the logic of their church was “iffy”, the practices of their organization were admirable. As a girl, I was particularly struck by what the Mormon church offered my girlfriends. Every Wednesday night they met with Mormon women to learn from them and to do activities and charity work together. They went on trips with other girls. They read articles in their Mormon magazines specifically for them. They received encouragement, guidance and support in a form only women can provide other women. They had a truly healthy and vibrant “women’s ministry”, as it is called in the Christian world. I saw the beauty of it and I wanted it too.