Anglican and Episcopal History offers scholars and history buffs over 20 scholarly reviews in its summer issue. The June issue, focused on the 50th anniversary of the Philadelphia Eleven ordinations, includes a church review, engaged history review, two film reviews, and 18 book reviews complementing 6 peer-reviewed studies and 2 accounts from women who helped break the Episcopal Church’s “stained glass ceiling.”

Church Review
Church review editor J. Barrington Bates provides a detailed profile of the iconic Church of the Advocate, site of the “irregular” ordination of 11 women in 1974. Readers learn about the North Philadelphia parish’s history as well as its current struggles to maintain its Christian witness. Church of the Advocate is part of the Philadelphia-based Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania.

Film Reviews
The Philadelphia Eleven, a documentary by Margo Guernsey and Nikki Bramley released in 2023 is reviewed by two viewers from opposite US coasts: Susan Russell from the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and Gina L. Gore from St. James Episcopal Church, Danbury, in the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.

Engaged History
Engaged history features collaborative projects undertaken by Anglican and Episcopal institutions that confront underrecognized historical narratives.

In this issue, readers first learn about ways Florence Li Tim-Oi ministered in East Asia as the first woman ordained in the Anglican Communion. Then, discover ways her legacy continues as part of the Li Tim-Oi Center for Chinese Ministry founded in 2014. The center provides lay leadership training courses taught in Chinese and designed for Chinese ministry within the United States.

The profile is written by Thomas Ni, executive director of the Li Tim-Oi Center and associate for Chinese Ministry at the Church of Our Savior in San Gabriel, part of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

Book Reviews
As always, readers enjoy a treasure trove of book reviews related to church history and Anglican scholarship. The June issue includes 18 book reviews, among them are:

• A History of Women in Christianity to 1600 by Hannah Matis | Reviewed by Valerie Abrahamsen of Brattleboro, Vermont
  

• The Sayings and Stories of the Desert Fathers and Mothers: Volume 1: A–H and The Sayings and Stories of the Desert Fathers and Mothers: Volume 2: TH-Ō from the Cistercian Studies Series as translated and introduced by Tim Vivian | Reviewed by David Brakke of The Ohio State University
  

• The Oxford Handbook of Mission Studies edited by Kirsteen Kim, Knud Jørgensen, and Alison Fithcett-Climenhaga | Reviewed by David P. Adams of the University of Galway

• Global Faith, Worldly Power: Evangelical Internationalism and U.S. Empire edited by John Corrigan, Melani McAlister, and Axel R.Schäfer | Reviewed by Samuel J. Richards of the International School of Kenya

• Liberty’s Chain: Slavery, Abolition, and the Jay Family of New York by David N. Gellman | Reviewed by Suzanne Geissler of William Paterson University

• Queens of a Fallen World: The Lost Women of Augustine’s Confessions by Kate Cooper | Reviewed by Walter Knowles of the University of the South

• She’s Weeping: An Intellectual History of Racialized Slavery and Emotions in the Atlantic World by Dannelle Gutarra Cordero | Reviewed by  Carla E. Roland Guzmán of the General Theological Seminary

• The Theology of Mercy Amba Oduyoye: Ecumenism, Feminism, and Communal Practice by Oluwatomisin Olayinka Oredein | Reviewed by Kefas Lamak of the University of Iowa

Anglican and Episcopal History is published quarterly in March, June, September, and December. Full text articles are available through JSTOR.org and for members of the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church at hsec.us/AEH.