St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-02-25

SCiulOlI tloSt SlOIiOS PISoCus lOouAl-
ably among all churches the New
Jerusalem is modest. 1t is absolutely
free OF sensational features, and oper-
ates with less machinery than any other
religious society. 1t follows that an in
stitution of this sort is popular with
limited number of people. The modern
IMPROVED MEANS OF GRACE
by which the polite later-day saint
effects a happy compromise with God
and mammOn have no existence among
the SwedenborgianS. Deathbed repent
aneeS have no place in their scheme of
redemption, and the. cannibalistic salts
faction in being. washed in the blood
of the Lamb" does not, in their belief,
make a mans life ,holys OF sum up the
whole of salvation. .:Our church is not
popular with those who like to take it
easy" says Rev. E. C. Mitchell, pastor
of the New Jerusalem church, of this
city. "Salvation comes to lnail grad
uaIly in the degree in which he shunS
evils, as sins, and enters into life of
love, faith and obedience. We believe
that men must practically live in this
world the Christianity which they eX-
pect to carry with them in the next"
And we've outside of the New Jerusa-
len-believe? Well, we don't like to
speak of it often. but as matter of
fact we believe in getting along as COM
fortably and smoothly as possible in
this world, trusting to holding up our
souls for cleansing in the last days, as a
youngster holds up his face to be
scrubbed Saturday night, squirming
and sputtering under the operation, re-
signed only in the consciousness that
1T HAS GOT TO BE DONE.
and in any event, must beOf short dura-
ton. Odd that we don't think more
often of the long-drawn-out, slow tor
conditions, wearing our white robes all
Through eternity, with the aWkwardnesS
and painful sense of being dressed up,
with which we wear our Sunday clothes.
To show what a set of ease-lOving
people there is in Minnesota, is the fact
that there are only two Swedenborgian
churches in the state, one in Minneap-
oils, the other in this city. Both were
founded by Rev. E. c. Mitchell, who
lived in Minneapolis and established
the one there before coming to st. Paul.
In October, 1872, Mr.. Mitchell began
holding evening meetings here. His
congregations were of the kind the
Lord had in mind when He promised
Divine presence where two or three are
gathered together in His name. But
the disciples of Swedenborg have never
been accustomed to base their actions
upon their numbers, and on the
1st of June, 1878, Mr.. Mitchell
reorganized branch church here
with twenty-One members. Services
were held in the old Y. NJ. q. A. rooms
on Third street, in the evening only,
lr;&ohalt cfil fai ,ft,rr hic roci
dence in Minneapolis. In the summer
of '76 he moved to this city. The soci-.
ETY. rented the old First M. E. church
on Market street, and there. with none
of the outward glory described by
John in his revelation of the holy city,
the spiritual structure Of the New Je-
.rusalem was contained. The walls were
not great nor high, and they were not
Of Jasper. but of red brick; neither
were the foundations garnished with
all manner of precious stones, as is the
foundation of the walls of the present
church on Selby avenue. The spiritual
structure, notwithstanding, was
STRONG IN THE UNION
Of the following members: Ex-GOv.
Marshall and wife, Edward H. Cutler
and wife, John M. Gilman and wife.
George T. Woodward and wife, DR.. Won
Wedelstaedt and wife, Capt.. SimOns,
Miss Won Wedelstaedt, William G.
Bentley and wife, Mrs. Josie Haskell
and son, Mrs. Catherine Arnold, j.
Harper, William Harper. Henry
Harper, William KOehnke. Work was
begun on the new church in the spring
Of 1887, and the first Sunday in NOvem-
Der of the same year the building was
dedicated.
The social organization of this eccles
iastical institution is individual. There
Is even no chaos to bring discord through
harmony to disturb its peace. The
WOman's sewing society, in which we'll
meaning souls work their needles for
the good of the cause and their tongues
for the pure love of action, has no ex-
fstence in the New Jerusalem: neither
have foreign missionary or literary So
eieties. By the slow but certain force
az being. the church attainS its end.
sWEDENBoRG SET THE EXAMPLE
which his disciples follow, of max
ing no attempt to gain proselytes to
His doctrine further than by printing
and distributing his writings. The
church gathers its strength from think
ing people, and in this city, in sixteen
Years has added but fourteen members
to its list. 1--WE do not grow rapidly"
saws Mr.. Mitchell; "but what we gain
we never loose. For man to leave our
church after entering it, is an unheard.
Of practice" Some of the original
members have died or moved to another
city, and in their places have CONE u.