Church of the Holy City, Washington, DC
As the pastor of this church, I am often asked questions about what we do and what we believe. Here are some answers to common questions. These are my quick answers. If you have other questions you can email me at richtafel@gmail.com
Frequently Asked Questions
We are in start up mode, so you can expect a small group.
The service usually runs about 45 minutes.
We have classic piano accompanying the service for meditation. The primary parts of the service include the sermon and the prayer. We use the lectionary to pick which Scripture to use each week. The minister preaches for about ten minutes and then engages the group for any follow up questions or discussion. The is a time for silent prayer and we light candles for community prayers. After the service we gather in the parlor for a beverage and conversation.
We engage in prayer and personal transformation to constantly grow spiritually.
We believe it is not what you say that matters, it is what you do.
We believe in Jesus as God coming into the world to teach us how to live that life.
We believe the Bible has a deeper meaning than just a literal interpretation.
We believe we are spiritual beings in earthly bodies.
We believe that to the extent you love others, that’s the degree to which you love God.We believe that all faith paths are good.
We believe you can’t judge another person’s faith path.
We worship God, our loving Lord, who made us; who taught us in the Bible that all people are God’s children, and that we should love God and each other. When people turned away from God, He loved us enough to be born in our world as a baby. He grew up and lived the life He wants us to live. Risen now, He still is with us, our Lord and our God, helping us to grow more like Him. This is why we know Him as our Savior. We are His disciples when we love Him, and show our love for Him by being kind and helpful to one another.
We don’t believe that a physical second coming or rapture will destroy earth.
We believe a second coming has already occurred in a transformation of consciousness.
We don’t believe that only Christians go to heaven.
We don’t believe in a final judgment, but instead, believe that at death you transition to the community with whom you share the greatest love.
Again, we teach it is not what you say so much as as what you do that leads you to a heavenly community.
Emanuel Swedenborg (born Emanuel Swedberg on 29 January 1688;[2] died 29 March 1772) was a Swedish scientist, philosopher, theologian, revelator, and mystic.[3]He is best known for his book on the afterlife, Heaven and Hell (1758).[4][5]
Swedenborg had a prolific career as an inventor and scientist. In 1741, at age 53, he entered into a spiritual phase in which he began to experience dreams and visions, beginning on Easter weekend of 6 April 1744. This culminated in a ‘spiritual awakening’, in which he received revelation that he was appointed by the Lord to write The Heavenly Doctrine to reform Christianity.[6] According tote Heavenly Doctrine the Lord had opened Swedenborg’s spiritual eyes, so that from then on he could freely visit heaven and hell and talk with angels, demons and other spirits; and the Last Judgment had already occurred, in 1757.[7]
For the remaining 28 years of his life, Swedenborg wrote eighteen published theological works, and several more which were unpublished. He termed himself a “Servant of the Lord Jesus Christ” in True Christian Religion,[8] a work he published himself.[9] Some followers of The Heavenly Doctrine believe that, of his theological works, only those which Swedenborg published himself are fully divinely inspired.[10]
Before he was a mystic, Swedenborg was a great scientist and his airplane drawings hang in the Smithsonian today.
Swedenborg is the most influential theologian you’ve probably never heard of.