He first discovered Emanuel Swedenborg's theology when he read Heaven and Hell and Intercourse between the Soul and the Body in 1781; he was instantly converted.
Hindmarsh found first three other readers of Swedenborg: Peter Prow, William Bonington, and John August Tulk.
His father James Hindmarsh was chosen by lot to administer the sacraments; ten communicated, and five, including Robert, were baptised into the ‘new church’.
[1] On 27 January 1788 a chapel in Great Eastcheap (bearing over its entrance the words ‘Now it is allowable’) was opened with a sermon by James Hindmarsh;[1] Robert was the church secretary.
He therefore vowed never again to be a member of any society; but he became sole tenant of the premises in Eastcheap, the majority seceding to Store Street, Tottenham Court Road.
Hindmarsh held a conference (of seven members) in 1793, at which a hierarchy of three orders was agreed on, and Great Britain parcelled into twenty-four dioceses; but for want of funds the Eastcheap chapel was closed within the year.
Proud left in 1799 owing to disputes with the proprietors, and the chapel subsequently became the scene of Edward Irving's labours.
He preached in Clarence Street, Manchester, from 7 July 1811, holding on Thursdays in 1812 a debating society, which he called the ‘new school of theology.’ His friends built for him (1813) a ‘New Jerusalem temple’ in Salford.
After his retirement he wrote a history, from 1824 to 1834 working on the manuscript for Rise and Progress of the New Jerusalem Church in England, America and Other Parts.