The New International Encyclopædia/Swedenborgians
SWEDENBORGIANS. The name popularly applied to those who accept the doctrines of Christianity and of philosophy as set forth in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (q.v.). They do not call themselves Swedenborgians, but members of the New Church. Swedenborg formed no ecclesiastical organization, and many of his followers do not sever themselves from their previous Church connections; but the majority have organized a Church which they have named ‘The Church of the New Jerusalem,’ after the New Jerusalem of Apocalyptic vision (Rev. xxi.). The first movement toward organization began in Great Britain in 1782, when Robert Hindmarsh, a printer of London, and certain associates formed a class for reading and studying the writings of Swedenborg. This grew into a society for worship and teaching. Public services were first held in 1788. The General Conference of the New Jerusalem Church in that country began its sessions in 1789, and since 1815 has met annually. In 1902 the Conference consisted of 73 societies, with an aggregate membership of 6337. There were twelve societies, with a membership of 193, which do not belong to the Conference, and also 996 believers not connected with any society, enrolled as ‘isolated receivers,’ making a grand total of 7526 enrolled Swedenborgians in Great Britain. On the Continent of Europe there is a society of Swedenborgians in each of the cities of Paris, Zurich, Florence, Budapest, Vienna, Stuttgart, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Gothenburg. In the United States the first society of Swedenborgians was organized in Baltimore in 1792. The General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the United States and Canada held its first meeting in Philadelphia in 1817. With little interruption this body has held annual sessions ever since. In this country the Swedenborgian societies are grouped into State organizations, called associations. The General Convention is composed of twelve of these associations, and of nine separate societies. The individual membership of the bodies composing the Convention as reported in 1902 was 6812. There is a smaller organization of the Swedenborgians called The General Church of the New Jerusalem. Its headquarters are in the United States, though it has members in other countries. It is an offshoot from the Convention, having withdrawn from that body in 1891. It reports a membership of 600. In Australia there are four societies of Swedenborgians, with an aggregate membership of about 350; and there is a society in New Zealand; one on the island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean; and one at Durban, South Africa. There are also circles of readers and students of Swedenborg of sufficient importance to be reported in the journals of the organization in British India, China, Japan, and South America. Taken all together there are not far from 16,000 registered adult members of the Swedenborgian faith in the world.
The ministry of the Swedenborgians is patterned after the Episcopal order. In the General Conference of Great Britain there are 7 ordaining ministers, 35 ordained ministers, and 12 recognized leaders and missionaries, making a total ministerial force of 54. In the General Convention of the United States there are 6 general pastors, 102 pastors and ministers, and 16 authorized candidates and preachers, making a total of 124 in its ministerial force. The General Church of the New Jerusalem reports one bishop, 16 pastors, 4 ministers, and 2 candidates, making a ministerial force of 23. The pastors and ministers of the societies scattered throughout the world for the most part act under the authority of some one of these three general bodies, and their ministerial force of about 200 as reported above may be considered as constituting the entire clergy of the Swedenborgians in the world. In this classification the ordaining ministers of the General Conference, the general pastors of the General Convention, and the bishop of the General Church hold among Swedenborgians a position similar to that of a bishop of the Episcopal Church, though with the exception of the bishop of the General Church they do not exercise such authority.
A number of Swedenborgian societies in England conduct secular schools in connection with their religious societies. There are ten such institutions, with an aggregate enrollment (in 1902) of 4375 scholars. There is also a New Church College, London, concerned for the most part in preparing young men for the ministry. In the United States there are The Waltham New Church School, at Waltham, Mass.; The Urbana University, at Urbana, Ohio; The New Church Theological School, at Cambridge, Mass.; and The Academy of the New Church, at Bryn Athyn, Pa., conducted by the General Church, which has also several parochial schools in the United States and Canada. The sect publishes many journals.