History
The Church was founded in 1937, under the principal leadership of Rev. Theodore Pitcairn (son of PPG Industries founder John Pitcairn) and the Rev. Ernst Pfeiffer of The Hague Society in the Netherlands, by former members of the General Church of the New Jerusalem who had left as a result of a doctrinal dispute.
The dispute in question centered on theological ideas proposed by a Dutch layman, H. D. G. Groeneveld, in De Hemelsche Leer (The Celestial Doctrine), a Dutch periodical started by Pfeiffer in 1929. Emanuel Swedenborg, whose writings compose the distinctive body of material used by the General Church, had proposed the idea that the Bible had, in addition to its intended material meaning, a spiritual meaning that had been revealed through the communications between Swedenborg and the angelic realm. The General Church placed paramount authority on the writings of Swedenborg, but Groeneveld went beyond this; he proposed that Swedenborg's theological writings themselves were nothing less than a Third Testament, and thus, according to Swedenborg's ideas, must also have an inner, spiritual meaning.
In the United States, Pitcairn emerged as an early proponent of Groeneveld's perspective. In 1927, he wrote a short book entitled The Book Sealed with Seven Seals to introduce the idea to the American church. [4]
In the 1930s, first the leadership of the General Church, and later, its Council of the Clergy, rejected the leading theses propounded in De Hemelsche Leer. Rev. Pfeiffer, whose Hague Society supported the periodical, was thus ordered to stop publication. When he refused, he was forced, in 1937, to leave the General Church by its leading Bishop, the Rev. George de Charms. This led other leading adherents of the theses, including Pitcairn, to resign that year as well. That same year, Pitcairn, Pfeiffer, and others proceeded to establish the Lord's New Church Which Is Nova Hierosolyma, centered in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, and The Hague, The Netherlands. [4] [5] Hierosolyma is a Hellenized pronunciation of a Hebrew word for Jerusalem. [6]
In 1939, Rev. Pitcairn established a non-profit corporation for the purposes of promoting and maintaining the new church. [2]
The events of the Second World War delayed formalization of the new Church's organization. Finally, in March 1947, the Church's international governmental structure was drawn up by a provisional international council composed of the laymen Groeneveld and Anton Zelling, and the Revs. Pfeiffer, Pitcairn, and Philip N. Odhner, and approved by Church members in America and Holland later that year. [5]
DO NOT rent from them and live on the property! You won’t have privacy, there are too many liabilities, and you won’t get respect or timely assistance. People use public paths 24hrs and will walk on property, up to house, and try to open doors. No signage that it’s not public like other buildings are. After a break-in, landlord promised that security system tech would be out the next week, but that didn’t happen and it took over 6 months and many excuses later just to get a quote. A very small fence project to give us privacy started in October and then never got worked on again, so come next July it was just pieces of wood still laying on the ground. Many loud events with many people held onsite and never notified tenants. I could hear every word of people using other side of house kitchen throughout my apartment. People drive and park on property overnight shining lights into bedroom. Apartment got flooded due to drain neglect and then we had to clean outside drains weekly. Trash bins never emptied after a year of requests to multiple staff members, trash bags had to be set outside before 1/4 mile walk to dumpster and dogs let loose destroy bags and dog owners don’t clean up. A thermostat for our apartment was on the other side of the house and on a different floor, so we didn’t have temperature control of all our own apartment and one AC vent blew air directly outside. Fountain only worked while important people visited otherwise was mosquito breeding pool. Landlord took considerable donation from local for repairs then just didn’t do it and lady had to ask for her money back over a year later. Local church staff are not inviting nor offer assistance or prayer during illness or emergency. Church staff is more concerned about increasing the value of their art than helping the local community. In fact, I could find no charitable services to poor or needy. Staff, especially aloof, dishonest, and unhelpful Executive Director and unqualified lazy landlord practice conflict avoidance, so issues, safety concerns, and complaints are never addressed and no one is held accountable to their word. Landlord only helped after legal pressure. Nepotism is rampant. Last name goes over qualifications for employment. Landlord is brother of preacher and their other brother is a board member acts inappropriately to women. Women do not have equal rights in this religion and the LGBTQ+ community is not accepted. It is a sham for a small group of people who live for free. I will never set foot on that property again! Grounds were pretty.
