Theodore Pitcairn
| Theodore Pitcairn | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
November 5, 1893 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Died | December 17, 1973 (aged 80) Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Clergyman, Philanthropist, Art Connoisseur |
| Spouse(s) | Maryke Urban |
| Parent(s) | John Pitcairn, Jr. and Gertrude Starkey |
Theodore Pitcairn (November 5, 1893 – December 17, 1973) the son of PPG Industries founder John Pitcairn, was a clergyman, theologian, philanthropist, and connoisseur of the arts and antiquities.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 5, 1893, he was the fourth son and fifth child of John and Gertrude Pitcairn.The family moved from Philadelphia to their newly built home, Cairnwood, in Huntingdon Valley in 1895. Pitcairn spent his early school years in the Bryn Athyn parish schools of the General Church of the New Jerusalem, which follows the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg. He received his high school diploma from the Academy of the New Church Boys College in 1913. After attending the University of Pennsylvania, Pitcairn made the decision to study at the Academy of the New Church Theological School. He graduated in June, 1918, with a Bachelor of Theology degree.
Ordained into the priesthood of the General Church in 1917, Pitcairn worked with the church missions and taught theology to African students in South Africa and Lesotho (then known as Basutoland). He served as Pastor of the Durban Society in Natal, South Africa, and later as Assistant Pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church. During this time, he also served as Acting Pastor of the Circle at Seine-et-Marne, France. Pitcairn taught art history, history of education, and a course on the "Human Organic" at the Academy College.
In the late 1930s, doctrinal differences within the General Church led Pitcairn and several other church members to found a new branch of the New Church known as The Lord's New Church Which Is Nova Hierosolyma. In 1939, Pitcairn established a non-profit corporation for the purposes of promoting and maintaining the new church. He served as pastor of the Philadelphia Society of The Lord's New Church until 1960, when leadership of the church passed to Philip N. Odhner.
Pitcairn wrote several doctrinal works, including The Book Sealed with Seven Seals (1927); The Seven Days of Creation (1930); and My Lord and My God: Essays on Modern Religion, the Bible and Emanuel Swedenborg (1967). In 1969 the church published The Beginning and Development of Doctrine in the New Church by Theodore Pitcairn, bound together with Notes on the Development of Doctrine in the Church by Philip N. Odhner.
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