About Us
Glencairn, built between 1928 and 1939 in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, was once the home of Raymond and Mildred (Glenn) Pitcairn and their children. The building now serves as a not-for-profit museum of religious art and history. Collections include ancient Egyptian, ancient Greek and Roman, medieval Christian, Islamic, Asian, and Indigenous America. For more information see History or watch our award-winning 30-minute documentary film, "Embracing the Sacred: The Story of Glencairn Museum."
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of Glencairn Museum is to interpret art and artifacts as expressions of religious belief and practice, and to preserve Glencairn as a National Historic Landmark.
As a member of the Academy of the New Church, the Museum interprets how the collection and historic home illustrate the beliefs of the New Church and the lived practice of these beliefs. The Museum invites engagement with its mission through galleries and exhibitions, education and tours, research and publications, and preservation and conservation.
DESIRED IMPACT
Glencairn Museum seeks to encourage curiosity, facilitate exploration, and inspire reflection on spiritual beliefs and practices through material objects. The Museum desires for visitors to engage with New Church beliefs and practices; recognize shared spiritual concepts across different religions; develop understanding and appreciation for religious beliefs and practices different from their own; and reflect on their own spiritual beliefs and practices and identify the goodness in others.
INTERPRETIVE APPROACH
Glencairn Museum considers art and artifacts as doorways to understanding the total religious experience of the people who created and used them. Specifically, the Museum seeks to facilitate dialogue between object and viewer about how objects reveal the beliefs of their creators and users, and the ways in which they expressed those beliefs through their practices.
The desired goal is for both Museum and visitor to temporarily suspend personal judgments about whether these beliefs and practices are true or false, right or wrong. Through this approach, each object can serve as a gateway to better understanding religion as it is experienced by religious adherents in their daily lives.
The Museum is committed to interpreting and presenting religious traditions in a way that is acceptable to, and whenever possible, informed by adherents of the religion; informed by the professional community of scholars; and comprehensible to the visiting public.