2026 Lecture Themes
Daily Schedule
8:30 Sing Along
8:45 Morning Chapel
9:00 1st Lecture
10:00 2nd Lecture
11:00 Adult Discussion Group and
Flames and Sparks classes
Lectures are held Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday each week. All lectures are live streamed on the FNCA Facebook page. There is no morning program on Wednesdays, which is Outing Day. Sunday mornings we join the congregation of the Fryeburg New Church in town for morning services instead of the usual program.
Due to the Rev. Dr. George F. Dole Celebration 3-Mile Road Race on the final Saturday, there is a single lecture that day at 11:00.
A full listing of each week's lectures is found on the Lecture Schedule page.
1st Week
Biblical Theme:
"Our Favorite Bible Stories"
with a nod toward Swedenborg's
continuous, connected inner sense
© Beki Greenwood 2010This week, our lecturers will present their favorite Bible stories, with a word about where they occur in the narrative, their received literal meaning, and their inner meaning. Swedenborg famously announced that he would provide the inner meaning for every inspired book in the biblical cannon, and then promptly changed his mind. Nonetheless, he never dropped the idea that there is a continuous, connected inner sense that runs through the whole Bible. Join us as our lecturers share their favorite Bible stories and offer their views of that ever-present but elusive continuous, connected inner sense.
2nd Week
"The Real New Church"
© 2021 FNCAOn June 23, 2021, six days before passing into the spiritual world, the Rev. Dr. George F. Dole sent in a sermon to the Messenger for publication. It can be thought of as his last words for us before he died, and are the basis for this week's theme. Presenters will have received the sermon in advance and will respond with their way of reading George's last effort to send us something important. While there are many passages in this sermon that are meaningful, one stands out:
In the real New Church, there are no visible restraits at all. Instead we are free, and our "invisible restraints" are our sensitivities to what is good and true. That statement, in quite an extraordinary way fertilizes itself. That is, as we glimpse the beauty of a human community in which there are no hidden agendas, in which we care about each other, in which we want to be understood and understand, then that vision itself acts as an "invisible restraint". Anything less looks sorry by comparison.