About British Academy
The British Academy exists to promote and assist the growth of the New Church among people of all ages in Great Britain and Europe. The long-standing British Academy Summer School is its largest supported activity. It has led to many life-long friendships and not a few marriages! Students from many different countries have attended, some for many years running.
The British Academy also run Family Weekends and other activities for young people. Through this and other varied events and programmes, normally organised and run by the groups and individuals taking part, the British Academy gives financial backing and moral support towards educating people in the truths of the New Church and their application to life. Financial support also extends to British students wishing to study at the Academy of the New Church or Bryn Athyn College in the USA.
Brief History
The British Academy had its first meeting at Swedenborg House in London in November 1953 with the express intention of starting a secondary school based on the principles found in the Theological Works of Emanuel Swedenborg. The hope had been to establish this by 1957, but many factors – including stringent government requirements for science labs and playing fields – made this impractical. The next best thing was to run an annual summer school. The first of these was in 1958 and they have remained popular ever since.