International New Thought Alliance
The International New Thought Alliance (INTA) is an umbrella organization for New Thought adherents "dedicated to serving the New Thought Movement’s various branches, organizations and individuals.”
The antecedents of the International New Thought Alliance date back to an 1899 New England convention of the Metaphysical Club, one of the first New Thought organizations, formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1895 by, among others, L. B. Macdonald, J. W. Lindy and Frederick Reed. The first public lecture sponsored by the club was an address by Julia Ward Howe. This convention led to the founding of the International Metaphysical League the following year. This League held the "International New Thought Convention" in Chicago in 1903, which was followed by similar conventions in 1906 and 1907. In 1908, the organization was renamed the “National New Thought Alliance." This organization held national conventions annually through 1914. The first international convention, held in London, England June 21-26, 1914, saw the renaming and re-organizing of the National New Thought Alliance into the International New Thought Alliance. The New Thought Bulletin was the newsletter for the organization. (“International New Thought Alliance”, Wikipedia).
Braden devotes all of chapter six of Spirits in Rebellion (:170-229) to the history of the INTA, detailing the nature of the annual conventions and the differences between New Thought as it developed in the eastern United States compared to those of the mid-west and the west. He describes the struggle for the INTA to adopt a Declaration of Principles, which it was finally able to do in 1917 and which have been revised only a few times.
An umbrella organization
It is important to note that the INTA is an umbrella organization. As Braden writes (:208), “Most of the effective work of New Thought is done, of course, within and through the various constituent groups. As we have said, there are no local branches of the INTA.”
The INTA today
The organization continues to conduct an "Annual World Congress", publishes New Thought magazine, and asserts that it houses the largest New Thought Archives known. Its website is at http://newthoughtalliance.org
A personal note
Mark Hicks is a life member of the INTA and TruthUnity supports the INTA and welcomes members here.
