Joseph Proud

Joseph Proud (born March 22, 1745, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, Eng.—died Aug. 3, 1826, Handsworth, near Birmingham, Warwickshire) was an English Swedenborgian minister and hymn writer who possessed considerable gifts as a preacher.

The son of a General Baptist minister, Proud served Baptist churches at Knipton, Fleet, and Norwich before in 1788 openly adopting the views of Emanuel Swedenborg. As a minister of the (Swedenborgian) New Church, he gathered large congregations in Birmingham, Manchester, and London. His first volume of 300 hymns appeared in 1790 and was several times reprinted. A small book of hymns for children was published in 1810. Many of his compositions continue to be used in Swedenborgian worship.