NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH (NEW CHURCH).
Doctrinal Basis (§ 1).
Origins in Europe and America (§ 2).
Development; Statistics (§3).
Publishing Agencies (§ 4).
The Academy (§5).
The General Church of the New Jerusalem (§ 6) .
The New Church " signified by the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse," according to Emanuel Swedenborg, and hence called also the New Jerusalem Church and Church of the New Jerusalem, is the body of Christian believers who accept Sweden-
borg's interpretation of the Holy
i. Doctrinal Scriptures as a divinely given revela-
Basis. tion of their spiritual meaning and
who believe that in this opening of the divine Word in its interior meaning the Lord is making his second advent to the world; that this advent is accompanied by the universal judgment, overturning, and remaking of the religious beliefs of mankind which were figuratively foretold in Matt. xxiv. as the " end of the world " and in Rev. xxi. as the " passing away of the former things," the " beholding of a new heaven and a new earth," and the " descent from heaven of the holy city, New Jerusalem, to be the tabernacle of God with men." In its largest meaning the New Church, according to Swedenborg, is a new divine dispensation, following the apostolic or Christian as that followed the Jewish, and embraces all of whatever name or tongue who acknowledge the three essentials of the Church which are: (1) the divinity of the Lord, (2) the holiness of the Word, and (3) the life of charity (Divine Providence, p. 267). In a
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restricted sense the New Church consists of those who openly confess the Lord Jesus Christ as revealed in his second coming in the newly opened Word, and unite by the proper rites with the ecclesiastical body organized for the worship of Jesus in his divine humanity as the only God of heaven and earth, believing that in his glorified person is the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (like soul, body, and operation in man) and that he is the redeemer and savior of mankind; and who cooperate for the promulgation of this new Christian knowledge and confession among mankind. They might therefore be distinctly classified as " Jesus-worshipers." For the complete theological system of the New Church see Swedenbohg, Emanuel.
The organization and growth of the New Church are peculiar as they are those of a belief instilled by books without the influence of any personal persuasion or leadership. Swedenborg
2. Origins died in London in the year 1772. He
in Europe never preached a sermon, and he made and no effort to gather about him a band
America, of disciples or followers. He donated his works, about twenty volumes, published in Latin anonymously, to bishops and university librarians. The first to translate complete volumes into English were two esteemed clergymen of the Church of England, Thomas Hartley, rector of Winwich in Northamptonshire, and John Clewes, rector of St. John's in Manchester. The movement toward a church organization began in England with a small body of the receivers of the doctrines who on July 31, 1787, held the first meeting for worship according to the doctrines of the New Church in the house of Thomas Wright in Poultry Road, London. Mr. James Hindmarsh, who had been a Wesleyan preacher and had received the doctrines through his son Robert Hindmarsh the printer, was chosen by lot to officiate at this inaugural meeting in place of a priest, the sacrament of the holy supper was administered to eleven persons, and five others were baptized into the faith of the New Church. In 1788 the "public worship of the Lord in his second coming" was celebrated for the first time at the opening service of a chapel obtained in Great East Cheap, London, by the society adopting the name " The New Church signified by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation." Here took place, the same year, June 1, the first ordination of ministers for the New Church; James Hindmarsh and Samuel Smith, both former Methodist preachers, being set apart for ordination, and twelve members being chosen by lot to lay their hands upon the candidates. Through James Hindmarsh and his successors are derived all the subsequent ordinations of ministers in the New Church in Great Britain. About the same time circles of readers and believers were formed in Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Skara in Sweden, although no distinct church organization was attempted in that country. Readers and publishers of the doctrines appeared at that time also in Germany, France; and Russia. In America the doctrines were intro-' duced by James Glen, a Scotchman, who in Philadelphia in June, 1784, delivered a public lecture on
the doctrines of the New Church, this being their first public proclamation in any place in the world. Books were later sent over by Robert Hindmarsh of London and an edition of the True Christian Religion was published in Philadelphia by Francis Bailey in 1789, among the subscribers to which were Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, and other distinguished men. In 1790 Lord Thomas Fairfax, Dr. John J. Cabell, Colonel Robert Carter of Virginia, and Judge John Young of Philadelphia, later of Greensburg, Pa., were instrumental in introducing the doctrines in these states. In 1792 a society was organized in Baltimore and a liturgical worship introduced, the first sermon in America being preached here on April 1 in the court house, by the Rev. James Wilmer, formerly of Christ Church College, Oxford. In the same year Ralph Mather, a convert and lay preacher of Liverpool, arrived in Philadelphia and held meetings for worship there. In 1794 the Rev. William Hill of the Church of England, an ardent disciple of the New Church, went to Boston, published the writings and deposited a set of the Arcana celestia in the library of Harvard College, thus planting the seed for the extensive growth of the New Church in Boston and throughout New England. In 1798 the distinctive priesthood of the New Church in America began in the ordination of Ralph Mather and John Hargrove by the church in Baltimore, " ten elders or representatives " laying their hands upon the candidates for ordination. Through John Hargrove are derived the successive ordinations into the priesthood of the New Church in America as in England through James Hindmarsh. In 1802 the Rev. John Hargrove preached a sermon in the rotunda of the capitol at Washington before the Senate and House of Representatives.
Societies having sprung up in various places in England, the first " General Conference of the Members of the New Jerusalem Church " was held in London April 13, 1789, at the place of worship in
Great East Cheap, London. The at-
3. Develop- tendance included members from
ment; Sweden and from America. In this
Statistics, and the annual conferences following
a catechism and liturgy were adopted and forms of ordination and rules for the vestments of the ministers were drawn up. With few omissions the conference has met every year from that time to the present. The one hundred and second session was held in London in 1909. The body is now designated as the " General Conference of the New Church." Its Minutes for the year 1909 shows 70 societies with a total membership of 6,665, and Sunday-schools numbering 7,907 scholars and 739 teachers. The ministers of the English Conference are classified as ordaining ministers, ordained ministers, recognized leaders, and missionaries. The ordaining ministers number 7, the ordained 38, and the leaders and missionaries 18. The first general convention of the New Jerusalem in America was held in Philadelphia on May 15, 1817. At first a convention of delegates of societies, it has since become a body composed of the several associations of state and territorial organizations of the church which with some isolated societies are represented by delegates. The convention has continued to
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