What really matters?
This is not a question to be asked lightly or answered casually. It is a question that demands perspective, honesty, and freedom from the countless distractions of a fast-paced, noisy world.
We are blessed with a building that says “Sanctuary,” and it is our constant effort to nurture the inner wisdom that enables us to see things clearly and to see each other lovingly.
The Church of the New Jerusalem is founded on the Christian theology of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) and has no specifically Swedish character or affiliation. We regard the New Jerusalem described in the Book of Revelation as evidence of God’s unceasing effort to bring the promise of heaven down to earth, believing that the long-awaited descent of this Holy City begins for each of us as we live to embody the qualities of heart and mind that the New Jerusalem inspires.
The first known Swedenborgian in Bath was Captain Horatio Gates Allen, who arrived from Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1795. His brother, Cushing Allen, was also a Bath resident and devout Swedenborgian. Both men were active members of the Bath community. Both men were active members of the Bath community. In the 1830s, Cushing served as City Treasurer and Collector, while at the same time, Horatio served as one of the city’s Constables. Interest in the theology gradually spread, and by 1820 there was a faithful “circle of readers” who met at private residences Sunday evenings. The present church was built in 1843, and has been in continuous use by Swedenborgians ever since. Originally the walls rose straight from the foundations to the eaves, but in 1920 the roof collapsed under an unusual snow load; and when the structure was rebuilt the walls were moved in several feet for structural reasons, giving rise to the present colonnades and the graceful proportions of the worship space.
Swedenborg lived at a time when science and religion were parting company, and as a devout Lutheran and immensely capable scientist, he was dismayed at this turn of events. A vision of Christ in 1745 called him to some twenty-seven years of visionary experience and resulted in a series of carefully written books about the deeper, spiritual levels of meaning of the Bible and of our own lives and relationships. He is probably best known for his book Heaven and Hell, first published in Latin in 1758. It has been in print ever since, and has been translated into at least twelve languages in addition to English.