Ohio History Journal

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THE RISE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH IN OHIO*

THE RISE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH IN OHIO*

 

by OPHIA D. SMITH

 

By 1832 there were enough Newchurchmen scattered throughout

the West to demand a general organization to synchronize their

efforts to spread the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg. Since they

were too remote from the eastern cities to attend the annual

General Convention, they wanted a general convention of their own

in order to manage western affairs in a western way. This need

was met by the organization of the "Western Convention of the

Receivers of the Doctrines of the New Jerusalem West of the

Alleghany Mountains."

Ohio led the West in the dissemination of the Doctrines. There

were seven New Church ministers in the state, and Cincinnati

was the New Church center.1 Receivers of the Doctrines were to

be found in twenty-two Ohio towns and communities-Bainbridge,

Columbus, Colerain (near Venice), Cincinnati, Dayton, Hamilton,

Lebanon, Mansfield, Miamisburg, Newville, Newark, New Peters-

burg, Newtown, Oxford, Piqua, Springboro, St. Clairsville, Spring-

field, Twenty Mile Stand, Urbana, Wintersville, Williamsport,

and Youngstown.

The Western Convention met annually in Cincinnati from 1832

to 1848, with the exception of the year 1835, when no convention

was held. From the beginning the convention clearly defined three

objectives: the dissemination of New Church doctrines, the educa-

tion of the rising generation, and the publication of a New Church

periodical. A fourth objective was added the second year-to supply

"institutions of learning with the Writings of the Church." The

very next day after the rising of the First Western Convention a

printing press committee was organized with Luman Watson, early

 

*This is the second in a series of articles on the Swedenborgians in Ohio. The

first was published in the preceding issue.

1 The seven New Church ministers in Ohio were: Adam Hurdus, Oliver Lovell

and Alexander Kinmont in Cincinnati; Thomas Newport, senior, in Lebanon; Thomas

Newport, junior, in Oxford; Richard Goe in Mansfield; Stephen Peabody in New

Petersburg. Strictly speaking, Alexander Kinmont of Cincinnati was a "teacher,"

as he was never ordained to the ministry.

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