THE EPISCOPALIANS Recent Titles in Denominations in America The Unitarians and the Universalists David Robinson The Baptists William Henry Brackney The Quakers Hugh Barbour and J. William Frost The Congregationalists J. William T. Youngs The Presbyterians Randall Balmer and John R. Fitzmier The Roman Catholics Patrick W. Carey The Orthodox Church Thomas E. FitzGerald The Methodists James E. Kirby, Russell E. Richey, and Kenneth E. Rowe The Lutherans L. DeAne Lagerquist The Churches of Christ Richard T. Hughes and R. L. Roberts THE EPISCOPALIANS DAVID HEIN and GARDINER H. SHATTUCK JR. Denominations in America, Number 11 Henry Warner Bowden, Series Editor Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hein, David. The Episcopalians / David Hein and Gardiner H. Shattuck Jr. p. cm.—(Denominations in America, ISSN 0193–6883 ; no. 11) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0–313–22958–9 (alk. paper) 1. Episcopal Church. I. Shattuck, Gardiner H. II. Title. III. Series. BX5930.3.H45 2004 283Ј.73—dc22 2003054723 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright ᭧ 2004 by David Hein and Gardiner H. Shattuck Jr. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2003054723 ISBN: 0–313–22958–9 ISSN: 0193–6883 First published in 2004 Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.praeger.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10987654321 CONTENTS Series Foreword vii Preface ix Abbreviations for Standard Sources xiii Part One The Episcopalians: A History 1 English and American Beginnings: 1534–1662 3 2 Anglicanism in Colonial America: 1662–1763 15 3 The Crisis of the American Revolution: 1763–1783 35 4 Reorganization in a New Nation: 1783–1811 51 5 Unity, Diversity, and Conflict in Antebellum America: 1811–1865 63 6 Social and Intellectual Challenges: 1865–1918 85 7 Emergence of the Modern Church: 1918–1958 111 8 Changing Times: 1958–2003 133 Part Two A Biographical Dictionary of Leaders in the Episcopal Church Biographical Entries 163 A Chronology of the Episcopal Church 327 Bibliographic Essay 333 Index 349 SERIES FOREWORD The Greenwood Press series of denominational studies follows a distinguished precedent. These current volumes improve on earlier works by including more churches than before and by looking at all of them in a wider cultural context. The prototype of this series appeared a century ago. Between 1893 and 1897, 24 scholars collaborated in publishing 13 volumes known popularly as the American Church History Series. These scholars found 20 religious groups to be worthy of separate treatment, either as major sections of a volume or as whole books in themselves. Scholars in this current series have found that outline to be unrealistic, with regional subgroups no longer warranting separate status and others having declined to marginality. Twenty organizations in the earlier series survive as nine in this collection, and two churches and an interdenominational bureau have been omitted. The old series also excluded some important churches of that time; others have gained strength since then. So today, a new list of denominations, rectifying imbalance and recognizing modern significance, features many groups not in- cluded a century ago. The solid core of the old series remains in this new one, and in the present case a wider range of topics makes the study of denominational life in America more inclusive. Some recent denominational histories have improved with greater attention to primary sources and more rigorous scholarly standards. But they have too fre- quently pursued themes for internal consumption alone. Volumes in the Green- wood Press series strive to surmount such parochialism while remaining grounded in the specific material of concrete ecclesiastical traditions. They avoid placing a single denomination above all others in its distinctive truth claims, ethical norms, and liturgical patterns. Instead, they set the history of each church in the larger religious and social context that shaped the emergence of notable denominational features. In this way the authors in this series help us understand the interaction that has occurred between different churches and the broader aspects of American culture. viii SERIES FOREWORD Each of the historical studies in this current series has a strong biographical focus, using the real-life experiences of men and women in church life to highlight significant elements of an unfolding sequence. The first part of every volume singles out watershed issues that affected a denomination’s outlook and discusses the roles of those who influenced the flow of events. The last part consists of biographical sketches, featuring those persons and many others who contributed to the vitality of their religious heritage. This format enables authors to emphasize distinctive features of their chosen subject and recognize how distinct individuals have shaped the denomination’s cumulative richness. The authors of this long-awaited volume have both academic and literary skills that qualify them as authorities on the Episcopal church. David Hein teaches in the religion and philosophy department at Hood College in Maryland and has often written about the denomination. Gardiner Shattuck teaches in the history department at Andover Newton Theological School in Massachusetts and has also written on aspects of Episcopal history. They study an ecclesiastical tradition as old as America’s first colonial endeavors. Even allowing for ambiguities in the question of whether New England Puritans were properly Anglican or not, the Church of England was the official religious institution in six of the other eight colonies. Anglican traditions flourished from Virginia to Georgia and were par- ticularly influential in the Old Dominion. When a successful revolution and a republican government necessitated a change in name, Episcopal leaders contin- ued the bulk of Anglican traditions in polity, liturgy, beliefs, and moral standards. In every successive generation, members of this denomination have held places of intellectual prominence and social influence. As readers of this volume will quickly discern, Episcopalians have profoundly influenced the national life. Henry Warner Bowden PREFACE A branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church in the United States possesses a character that may seem somewhat indefinite, especially as that identity has evolved over recent decades. No distinctive confessional state- ment—like the Augsburg (Lutheran) or the Westminster (Presbyterian)—identi- fies Anglican and Episcopal beliefs. No familiar phrase—like “inner light” (Quakers) or “strangely warmed” (Methodists)—comes to mind when someone says “Episcopalian.” Members of this denomination would have trouble naming their “founder” because, for various reasons, they do not look upon King Henry VIII as the Anglican counterpart to Martin Luther, Joseph Smith, or Mary Baker Eddy. The name itself—“Episcopal”—does not tell the observer much about what distinguishes this denomination. The word points to a polity (form of church government) that Episcopalians share with the vast majority of the world’s Chris- tians, for Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians also have bishops. In addi- tion, the Episcopal Church possesses a streak of congregationalism in its actual laws and practice. Theologically and liturgically, the denomination is both Cath- olic and Protestant. And identifying markers that in the past might have proved helpful—the church’s establishmentarian cast, for example, or its disinclination to enter into substantial ecumenical agreements—by the 1990s were no longer reliable indicators of this denomination’s positions on key issues. Finally, the church’s once-distinctive liturgy is now offered in a wide variety of styles (from very traditional to virtually free-form), including a contemporary version that appears familiar to both Lutherans and Roman Catholics.1 How then to delineate the unique elements of a denomination that, one often hears, is most appropriately characterized in terms of an ethos, a vision, a sensibility? One approach is by means of a book like this one, in which a distinctive pattern gradually emerges in the fabric of a long and rich history. Here the reader will find an account of a church that evolved into a denomination of the urban estab- x PREFACE lishment, a politically, theologically, and socially moderate religious body that appealed to those seeking a refined liturgy, literate preaching, beautiful music and architecture, and the society of their peers. At the same time, however, the reader will come upon the fascinating stories of those whom the dominant society often denied access to power—African and Hispanic Americans, women, and American Indians—as well as accounts of significant changes that have occurred in this old-line denomination. This narrative discusses the Anglican establishment in the American colonies, the crisis caused by the American Revolution, the organization of the Episcopal Church and the loss of “market share” to Baptists and Methodists in the early nineteenth century, the recovery with the rise of large industrial centers, the social and intellectual debates that took place between 1865