- Affiliated schools offering New Church Education
Quote of the Month
"Love consists in desiring to give what is one's own to another. To feel the joy of another as joy in oneself -- that is loving."
Emanuel Swedenborg,
Divine Love and Wisdom
no. 47
History
Faculty member Douglas Reuter when attending ANC as a student.
Throughout its several generations of history, former Academy students have returned to the institution to become valued faculty members.
The organization of the Academy began in Philadelphia 1876, under the leadership of the Rev. Chancellor W. H. Benade. The primary goal was preparation of men for the priesthood of the New Church. After the Theological School and a collegiate department were formed, the Boys School was established in 1881. In 1884, a Girls School, privately set up by Sarah DeCharms Hibbard, was incorporated into the Academy, with 27 students on 3 levels.
By the turn of the century the schools had been moved out to their current location, in what was then the countryside near Philadelphia, in Montgomery County. During the 1960's the college moved to a separate campus across the street.
The goal for the secondary schools was to create curricula to enhance the distinctive gifts of each gender to prepare them for life here on earth and in heaven. Through the years of growth and change, the goal has remained constant. By 1952, all the schools of the Academy were accredited institutions. The two schools today have an enrollment of approximately 250 students.