Bryn Athyn is a home rule municipality in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It was formerly a borough, and its official name remains "Borough of Bryn Athyn". The population was 1,375 at the 2010 census. It was formed for religious reasons from Moreland Township on February 8, 1916. Bryn Athyn is surrounded by Lower Moreland Township.
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of historically women's colleges in the United States. It is one of 15 Quaker colleges in the United States. The college has an enrollment of about 1,350 undergraduate students and 450 graduate students. It was the first women's college to offer graduate education through a PhD.
Emanuel Swedenborg was a Swedish Christian theologian, scientist, philosopher and mystic. He became best known for his book on the afterlife, Heaven and Hell (1758).
Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europe. A form of historicist architecture, it took its inspiration from English Tudor and Gothic buildings. It has returned in the 21st century in the form of prominent new buildings at schools and universities including Cornell, Princeton, Vanderbilt, Washington University, and Yale.
Bryn Athyn Cathedral is the episcopal seat of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, a denomination of Swedenborgianism. The main building is of the Early Gothic style, while the adjoining structures are of a transitional period reflective of a combination of both Gothic and Norman styles. The exterior appearance of the cathedral itself is reminiscent of Gloucester Cathedral in England.
The General Church of the New Jerusalem is an international church based in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, and based on the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg. The General Church of the New Jerusalem distinguishes itself from other Swedenborgian churches by teaching that the Writings for the New Church are the Heavenly Doctrine revealed by the Lord in His Second Coming and have authority equal to the Old and New Testaments. It is larger, newer, and more conservative than the Swedenborgian Church of North America.
New Church Education is a philosophy of education developed and practiced by the General Church of the New Jerusalem, one of the New Church or Swedenborgian sects. This philosophy is based on some of works of Emanuel Swedenborg, whose theological writings are considered by members of this church to be the revealed Word of God, equal in authority to the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The New Church can refer to any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed under the influence of the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). The Swedenborgian tradition is considered to be a part of Restorationist Christianity.
Glencairn is a castle-like mansion in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, that was home to the Pitcairn family for more than 40 years. Now the Glencairn Museum, it contains a collection of about 8,000 artworks, mostly religious in nature, from cultures such as ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, the Roman Empire and medieval Europe, as well as Islamic, Asian, and Native American works. The museum is affiliated with The New Church, and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bryn Athyn College of the New Church Theological School is a seminary specializing in New Church theology and located in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.
John Pitcairn Jr. was a Scottish-born American industrialist. With just an elementary school education, Pitcairn rose through the ranks of the Pennsylvania railroad industry, and played a significant role in the creation of the modern oil and natural gas industries. He went on to found the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, an early industry innovator which quickly grew into the largest manufacturer of plate glass in the United States, and amassed one of the largest fortunes in the United States at the time.
Raymond Pitcairn, son of PPG Industries founder John Pitcairn, was a lawyer, a businessman, a collector of ancient and medieval art, and an amateur architect. He supervised the building of the Bryn Athyn Cathedral, his own castle-mansion of Glencairn, and the "Zeus of the Catskills" Glen Tonche.
Theodore Pitcairn the son of PPG Industries founder John Pitcairn, was a clergyman, theologian, philanthropist, and connoisseur of the arts and antiquities.
The Academy of the New Church, Secondary Schools is an accredited, private, 9th through 12th-grade Girls School and Boys School, located in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, United States. The school is affiliated with the General Church of New Jerusalem's educational arm, the Academy of the New Church, along with the Bryn Athyn College of the New Church, the Academy of the New Church Theological School and others. It was established in 1876.
The Lord's New Church Which Is Nova Hierosolyma, usually referred to as the Lord's New Church, is an international, Christian church based on the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, which its members view as the Third Testament.
The Bryn Athyn School District is a public school district in Montgomery County. While it is designed to serve residents of the small Philadelphia suburb of Bryn Athyn, it has never contained a school. 90% of students in the affluent and highly religious community attend private schools operated by the General Church of the New Jerusalem, which has its global headquarters in the borough. The remaining students attend Lower Moreland Township School District. The Bryn Athyn School District is one of just four in the state to not operate a high school; Midland Borough School District in Beaver County and Saint Clair Area School District in Schuylkill County have avoided consolidation by continuing primary education only, while Duquesne City School District, which features the lowest test scores in the state, in Allegheny County had its high school closed by state mandate.
The Bryn Athyn Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District encompassing an important collection of Arts and Crafts movement architecture in Bryn Athyn, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Designated in 2008, it includes three residential properties associated with the Pitcairn family who supported the movement, as well as Bryn Athyn Cathedral, all built by craftsmen employed by the Pitcairns.
Cairnwood is a 26,000 square feet (2,400 m2) historic home located adjacent to the Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It was designed by the architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings and built in 1895. The surrounding grounds were designed by Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot. It was built for John Pitcairn, Jr. (1841–1916), President of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. It is a 2½-story, Roman brick and limestone French country estate home in the Beaux Arts style. The L-plan house has 28 rooms, plus a chapel in the third story turret. Also on the property are a contributing stable and garden house built contemporary to the main house, and garage complex (1911). A contributing structure is the estate wall. The property is now owned by the Academy of the New Church and serves as a special events facility, specifically hosting weddings, corporate functions, fundraising and social events of all kinds.
Fetter's Mill Village Historic District is a national historic district located in Bryn Athyn and Lower Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It encompasses five contributing buildings and three contributing structures. They are a wagon shed / John Conner studio (1751), Alnwick Grove Train Station, Bryn Athyn Train Station / Post Office (1902), farmhouse, stone barn, two iron bridges, and a milk platform. Located in the district is the separately listed Fetter's Mill, built about 1740.
