Support the Center for Swedenborgian Studies
For 159 years now and counting, our seminary has provided advanced theological training for ministers and scholars working in the Swedenborgian Church of North America. We first incorporated as a theological school in the aftermath of the American Civil War, in 1866, and have continued to educate our clergy through economic crises, a Great Depression, world wars, and other times of turmoil and social unrest. As numerically small as our tradition might seem, the thought leaders coming out of CSS have consistently brought Swedenborgian teachings to a world in need of hope, and a belief that individuals and institutions can regenerate and change.
Since we launched our Nunc Licet Fellowship, a scholarship program which fully funds the graduate tuition of promising candidates, we have supported the journeys of students who are serving or will serve in ministry for the Swedenborgian Church of North America. These future and current ministers are active in churches, non-profits, or are envisioning pathways of usefulness to underserved communities—such as Tirah Keil (MDiv candidate), who plans to launch an inclusive spiritual community center in the Philadelphia area particularly attuned to the needs of LGBTQ youth. Other Nunc Licet fellows are presently serving churches and spiritual communities on the east coast (Boston), the Midwest (St Louis), and the west coast (El Cerrito). Such seeds of Swedenborgian ministry plant no small measure of hope when I think about the future, the coming of the New Jerusalem.
This coming is certainly global. Our center in Berkeley continues to be an important node in an international network of scholarship about Swedenborg, participating in academic conversations about his legacy and influence on world thought. Dr. Rebecca Esterson and I recently returned from a three-day Swedenborg conference held in London, the largest gathering of its kind in many years. Presenting with us was CJ Swenson, my doctoral advisee here at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU). CJ began reading Swedenborg on his own some years ago, which ultimately blossomed into a wish to pursue a PhD with us in Berkeley. CJ has truly been a gift for CSS, working on organizing our Wilson van Dusen materials in the archive, which will inform CJ’s dissertation on Swedenborg and the spiritual perception of space.
No matter how large or small, your gift helps CSS plug these various practitioners of Swedenborgian theology into contexts where it matters, sharing the message of hope that lies at the heart of our tradition.
With warmest wishes for the holiday season,
Dr. Devin P. Zuber
George F. Dole Professor of Swedenborgian Studies