I will be facilitating the first plenary session at the General Church Assembly in June. In that first session, together I want us to hear from people around the New Church about what connecting to the Lord means to them—through written responses, recorded video interviews, and people speaking live. We will reflect on some passages about the Lord; we will speak candidly about the challenges and blessings of trying to follow the Lord; we will be challenged and inspired to grow in our relationship with the Lord. At least that’s my hope. I need your help to make it a reality.
I’ve made a digital survey to collect people’s input. Find it at gcassembly2024.org/survey. Here are a few of the questions that are on the survey: “What daily, weekly, or yearly practices do you do to connect with the Lord?” “How has your relationship with the Lord changed and evolved over the course of your life so far?” “How have other people played a role in your evolving relationship with the Lord? What have people done that has felt useful or not useful?” I am not expecting you to answer all of the questions; I am requesting that you look through it and respond to whichever prompts you to feel like responding to.
Maybe you don’t want to fill out a digital survey. Send me an email or call me, and we’ll set up a time to meet and have a conversation (267-288-8444 or malcolm.smith@brynathynchurch.org). I’d love to chat with you about your relationship with the Lord. I would also be grateful if you can share this survey with any of your friends or family members who might enjoy filling this out. Maybe you and your friend can both fill it out and then share your responses with each other.
A few kind people have already filled out the survey and it has been such an honor to read their reflections on what the Lord means to them. It is such a precious, personal, and powerful aspect of life to get to connect with other people about. I look forward to sharing with you at the assembly some small taste of the responses I’ve already received and the (hopefully) many more that are about to come in. (You don’t have to be attending the assembly to fill out the survey.)