A NEW CHURCH IN A DISENCHANTED WORLD: A STUDY OF THE FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE NEW CHURCH IN GREAT BRITAIN (RELIGION, INSTITUTIONALIZATION, SWEDENBORG)

In 1787 a New Christian Church was founded in England based upon the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. The problem of this dissertation was to determine whether or not the manner in which this church was founded and institutionalized conformed to Weber\u27s theory of church foundation and institutionalization. In order to investigate this problem, the historical record of Swedenborg\u27s life and the events surrounding the founding of this church were examined. The results of this investigation are; Swedenborg does not fit the model of a charismatic leader, even though he had extraordinary experiences, because he merely wrote and published his revelations, and never attempted to found a church; the foundation of the church took place without any charismatic leader; the lack of a charismatic leader and the emphasis of the theology on the universal values of freedom and rationality resulted in a debate among the disciples regarding the matter of organizational structure; the disciples of this religion were primarily drawn from two different regions in England with two different agendas; those in the Lancashire region were primarily artisans who valued freedom and democratic church forms; those from London were professionals who valued rationality and hierarchial bureaucratic forms; the debate between these two groups over the issue of organizational form almost led to the aborting of the founding; and, the compromise, essentially a congregational form of church government which was institutionalized, favored the values of the Lancashire artisans, neglected the implicit relationship between universal values and bureaucratic forms. The conclusions to be drawn from these results are: first, the formation of this church does not fit the Weberian model; second, the problems of organization faced by this church may be a result of not fitting the Weberian model since charismatic leadership, by foreclosing options and reducing ambiguity may be a necessary component for strong foundation and subsequent dynamic growth. Given the modern inclination toward freedom and rationality, however, a religion which is capable of incorporating these values may be able to overcome its structural liabilities and transform them into assets in the long run