About Apocalypse Awakening

Revd Clifford Curry

Clifford grew up as a minister’s son and was introduced to Swedenborg’s teaching and the New Church approach to the Christian faith from an early age.   Attending Cotham Grammar School in Bristol he obtained a place at The University of Kent at Canterbury to study chemistry.  Here he was to find stimulating and challenging friendships in the university Christian Union that deepened his own faith and encouraged him to study Swedenborg’s teaching for himself.

After graduation he worked briefly in research, then for nearly a decade in the electrical retail business.  Towards the end of this time he felt called to devote more time and energy to the church and this led to his applying to train for ordination to share the spiritual insights he believes the Lord Jesus Christ has revealed for the present era through Emmanuel Swedenborg’s writings.  These enabled a deeper understanding of the Bible, the purpose of life here and the nature of life hereafter, all very much needed in today’s world.

Ordained in 1983 he served churches in Blackpool, Preston and Lytham moving to serve in Bournemouth in 1990.  He has also worked with others to promote Swedenborg’s writings at New Age events and exhibitions as part of a outreach projects.  More recently he has been part of a study group exploring the deeper personal meaning of the book of Revelation for the reader.  This has involved the artist Roland Smith who has produced an outstanding series of images depicting scenes from this final book in the bible to stimulate personal reflection on its themes..

Revd Mary E Duckworth

Born in N E Lancashire during World War II I was a middle child of six brought up in times when nothing was wasted.  I loved looking back at Pendle Hill, ‘lifting my eyes to the hills’, on the canal bridge on my way to school.  Brought up in the New Church at Clayton-le-Moors I also became familiar with other New Churches in North Lancashire attending young peoples’ groups.  My love of the Church’s teachings was awakened and grew at residential Weekends and Summer Schools.

I fulfilled my childhood ambition of becoming a teacher but soon found my love of the Church drew me to moving to London to work as manager of New Church Press, the Church’s headquarters in the basement of Swedenborg House, almost the only job in the   New Church available to women.  Whilst there I married a New Church minister and when my boys were small, I became involved with the Playgroups Association.  I then worked for the Guild of Health as Publications Manager, becoming interested in healing prayer and meditation. 

When the New Church made the decision to ordain women, I felt the call to be ordained and led the way for other women.  It felt like coming home.  It is such a joy to lead people to the Lord, to provide opportunities to know and experience his love and care, to hear his Word challenging us to change, not to judge but to seek justice and peace, to know ourselves and follow the Lord Jesus Christ.  Retreats and circle dancing are ways of coming to know the Lord that I enjoy sharing.

I love reading the Word of God in the Holy Bible and have had the privilege of focussing on the last book of the Bible with several colleagues, to create ways of enabling people to be guided by the Lord through his Word.  Crucial to this work are the illustrations of the Apocalypse of John, which we commissioned from the artist, G Roland Smith.

Revd Bruce R Jarvis

Bruce grew up within the family of the New Church at Brightlingsea, Essex, and in his young adult life served not only his home Church but became involved in the national young people’s organisations.  Alongside that he was developing a keen interest in the New Church teachings which convinced him that the Lord Jesus Christ was indeed fulfilling his promise to come again to His people, this time in a revelation of His purposes for men and women through a rational presentation of eternal truths in the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. 

His first career was in education where he worked in the primary sector in North-east Essex.  In his late 30s he came to the conclusion that he must respond to the Lord’s call to ministry which he had long felt, and applied for the ordination course at New Church College.  Following ordination in 1985, he was appointed to lead a congregation in Sunderland.  Along the way, he and several colleagues found themselves led to make a deep study of the Book of Revelation or Apocalypse, a project which turned into a wonderful two decades long project, leading to publications and an exhibition of paintings of some of the main visual images of the Apocalypse, created by the artist G.Roland Smith.  Now in retirement, he is delighted to support and assist younger colleagues as they find new ways of presenting to seekers and searchers the inner meanings of Revelation. 

Revd Michael Stanley

Michael Stanley was born in 1936 in Lancashire, England.  Originally pursuing a scientific career at the universities of London and Birmingham, his research in solid state physics took him to Columbia University, New York, in 1967.  It was there that he felt called to the ministry and, after training in England, was ordained in the New Jerusalem Church in 1971.

During his training, he began a lifelong fascination with the Book of Revelation and its relevance to spiritual growth.  After ordination, two years ministry in Mauritius brought him into close contact with Eastern gurus and mystical philosophy.

He was appointed Principal of the Swedenborgian New Church College in 1976 where for 14 years he taught theology, philosophy, psychology comparative religion and spiritual symbolism of sacred scriptures.

He has given public lectures in the UK, across Australia and in the USA, and has regularly led spiritual growth courses and workshops.     Now ‘retired’, he continues to serve the College as a course writer and tutor.

His particular interest in applying spiritual principles to personal growth led to his development of a new method of psychospiritual counselling based on Swedenborg’s science of spiritual correspondences.

He is the author of several papers in the area of theology and psychospirituality, and edited the anthology, ‘Emanuel Swedenborg: Essential Readings’.  He is also the author of ‘Eve, the Bone of Contention’ and ‘Personal Revelation’: a guide to a personal interpretation of the Book of Revelation’, and a co-author of the Apocalypse of John Card Set.

Revd Jack Dunion

I was born in the West coast of Scotland in a place called Dumbarton, which is about 15 miles North of Glasgow City. The name Dumbarton evolved out of the name Dunbritton which, roughly translates as “fort of the Britons”. The town, perhaps surprisingly, played a very important role in British history. Famous also for its ship building the town rises up on each side of the valley through which runs the River Clyde. I grew up living half way up one side of the valley, about a mile and a half from the river itself. On leaving school I worked on a building site for a while until, at the age of 18, I joined the Territorial Army (TA). During the twelve years I spent in the TA, I somehow managed to end up commanding my own section, becoming a full corporal.

I consider myself to have been a late learner in life and after finding my spiritual home in a Swedenborgian church I found myself returning to formal education at the age of 30, attending Clydebank College where I gained qualifications in Social Care. 2 years of full time study was rewarded with a 12-year career working with adults with learning disabilities. While working in social care I also began a part time formal study of the writings of the spiritual seer and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg. After 7 years of part time study I felt a strong calling to the ministry of the General Conference of the New Church. I then left my social care career behind and returned to full time study. In 2009, after a further 2 years of study, I was ordained as a minister into the General Conference and took on pastoral duties within the Paisley Society in Scotland.

13 years on and I enjoy a wide range of duties within the General Conference, both local to Paisley and also with the national church across the UK. My activities within the church range from Youth Work to Spiritual Leadership and I run a local weekly radio show which is broadcast every Sunday morning. I am also interested in making use of technology to reach out to people who are interested in furthering their spiritual development and who may benefit from the learning and experience of myself and my colleagues through the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.

During my life journey I feel honoured to have had the opportunity to bring up four kids and I now also have 5 beautiful granddaughters. My wife Suzanne (a senior care worker) and I, along with my 16-year-old step daughter Chloe, now live in Glasgow where I am able to continue to joyfully serve the Paisley Society.

When I am not working I enjoy the outdoors and applying the survival training skills I learned from my days in the TA. I also enjoy running, hill walking and going to the local gym, sometimes with my wife Suzie. We also go camping together and often enjoy campervan holidays in the Scottish Highlands.

Revd Becky Jarratt

I was born in Brightlingsea, Essex, and lived there until the age of 5, when we moved to Manchester for my Dad to train as a minister at the New Church College.  From there we moved to Sunderland, and I was lucky to be part of New Church communities throughout my childhood and teenage years.

I studied Music at Lancaster and then had a year at Bangor to become a secondary Music teacher.  I continued teaching music peripatetically whilst training for ordination, and also had two children during my studies.  I think I had always known I wanted to be a minister, but it took until my late 20s to heed to the call.

I live in York with my husband, Chris, and children Ellie and Richard, aged 13 and 11.  With my Dad being part of the original Apocalypse Study Group, I have felt drawn to the Book of Revelation, and have been delighted to be able to find new ways in which to share the work the ASG spent so many years on.  Other parts of my work include Zoom Worship, working with young people and leading residential holidays.

In my spare time I love to play netball and still enjoy making music – the beauty now being that I can do so with my own children!

G. Roland Smith

G.Roland Smith

It was in the Millennium Year that several Ministers, inspired by talks given during the annual Ministers’ Seminar, decided to form a working group to make a thorough study of the Book of Revelation.  While Roland was never a member of the Apocalypse Study Group(ASG), his participation in the work proved to be of crucial importance.  The visual impact of the many striking images in the Apocalypse have a correspondential force and power, and are clearly intrinsically linked with the underlying message of the book.  The transformative effect of the judgment process, or separation of what is good from what is evil, what is true from what is false, is graphically portrayed in the dramatic imagery of the Apocalypse.

When the ASG members turned to Roland Smith for help in representing these word pictures, little did any of them know, and neither did Roland, that it would turn out to be an epic task taking ten years.  During those years Roland responded generously with his time, and with a wonderful spirit of cooperation.  The Group never tried to influence the artist’s style and approach, but when requests for minor modifications were made, he responded positively to achieve the desired effect. 

The outcome was a portfolio of 25 pictures, starting with John’s vision of Christ Manifesting in the first chapter right through to the Holy City, New Jerusalem, and the River of Life, in the closing chapters.  The pictures, with background text by ASG members, transformed into a substantial catalogue; and the originals became the Apocalypse of John Exhibition, which has been shown in various locations in this country and abroad, and is now kept at Purley Chase Centre. 

But Roland had not quite finished his work, for the Group produced a deck of cards for use in spiritual growth settings as well as game scenarios.  Twenty-four of the images were used as major cards, and Roland produced a further forty line drawings, featuring some of the many “lesser” images, as minor cards.

It was truly a tour de force, and the artist himself regarded it as “possibly his most challenging commission.”  The ASG members felt so blessed to have had the benefit of Roland’s skill and imagination, without which the Revelation project might never have come to fruition.