Rise Above It
(I wrote the following for the September newsletter for the Pittsburgh New Church. It was then posted at the Pittsburgh New Church site. However, some of it is relevant to the rest of you, so I'm also posting it here.)
As the summer has been winding down, I’ve been getting more and more excited about the upcoming Rise Above It campaign. As you know by now, we will be kicking it off September 17th and will continue with our focus on the Ten Commandments through November 19th. This is an opportunity to come together as a congregation and reach out to our community. It has three core elements: 1) Sunday worship centered on a theme; 2) discussion group participation and 3) daily reading.
This campaign uses the book Rise Above It: Spiritual Development Through the Ten Commandments, by Ray and Star Silverman. It takes the Ten Commandments and relates them to daily life. The book is strongly grounded in New Church teachings while also bringing in complementary teachings from different major world religions. It is a book filled with heart, depth and personal application.
During the campaign we will have the opportunity to commit to strengthening our spiritual life, to commit to coming to church for the ten weeks of the campaign, to commit to being involved in a weekly discussion group and to commit to daily readings from the Rise Above It book and from the Word.
It is an exciting opportunity to experience the power of our whole community coming together to work on really following the Ten Commandments, on all levels, in our lives. Each of us will find new dimensions of each commandment that we can work on and that will help us to be healthier, happier people. As the Lord tells us, “If you want to enter life, keep my commandments.”
In addition to us in Pittsburgh, congregations in Los Angeles, Tucson, Phoenix, Cincinnati, Sarver, Ivyland and Bryn Athyn are participating in this effort. As other congregations watch us, we are leading the way in a new approach to studying, sharing and living the Lord’s Word.
So what can you do? If you haven’t already, please join in this exciting new endeavor by filling out a Discussion Group Sign Up form. That’s the easy part. Setting aside fifteen hours over ten weeks to read the Word, go to church, and participate in a discussion group isn’t so hard. The next step, however, takes more courage: invite your friends.
Inviting friends and neighbors to church can be a daunting task. Even some ministers can find it challenging, sometimes, to try to share the faith with non-members. We’ve taken steps to help you, though. We have materials–brochures, invitation cards, a special edition of New Church Connection–that you can give your friends, co-workers and neighbors. We’ve put up posters and are running newspaper ads and sending postcards to the areas you live and work in, so there’s a chance they’ve already heard of the program when you bring it up.
The Lord in His Word frequently calls us to share our spiritual wealth with the world, and not just as individuals. The Lord’s kingdom is a community of communities, and as we strive to be a part of that kingdom, we draw closer not only to the Lord but to one another. And as we do, the Lord is always there with us, lifting us up even when it seems to us that we are risking “failure” of some sort. He protects us so that we can take spiritual risks.
What I love about this campaign is that it gives us a powerful structure within which to follow the Lord’s commandments not just as individuals but as a community of communities, all in support of one another, and of course under the protection of the Lord. I see this as good for us as individuals, as a congregation, and as a church, and I also see it as good for our neighbors and friends.
If there is interest, I would like to offer an opportunity to get together to discuss the challenges of sharing your faith with your neighbors. If this sounds like something you would benefit from, email me at mac@pittsburghnewchurch.org.