Mission and Denominational Information

The Mission of the Center for Swedenborgian Studies is to prepare qualified individuals for ministry in the Swedenborgian Church, to serve as a center of Swedenborgian scholarship and to make Swedenborgian resources for theological education available to the wider church and community.

The Center for Swedenborgian Studies is a think-tank for Swedenborgian Studies globally as well as the official seminary of the Swedenborgian Church of North America. Providing courses and programs supporting academic, vocational, and personal growth journeys for students who want to or are required to take Swedenborgian Studies, the Center’s offerings are multidisciplinary with strengths in theology, biblical spirituality, history of ideas, spiritual formation, literature, art and architecture, science and spirituality, pluralism, eighteenth-century studies, nineteenth-century studies, New Religious Movements, Western esotericism, and mysticism studies.

Three scholars comprise the current faculty team: James F. Lawrence, Dean of CSS, Faculty Associate in Spirituality and Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at Pacific School of Religion; Devin Phillip Zuber, Assistant Professor of American Studies, Religion, and Literature and George F. Dole Professor of Swedenborgian Studies; and Rebecca K. Esterson, Assistant Professor in Sacred Texts and Traditions and Dorothea Harvey Professor of Swedenborgian Studies. Adjuncts and visiting scholars add to the faculty on a regular basis.