Historians examine factors that led to racial integration in ecclesiastical settings in Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, and New Jersey in their September issue of Anglican and Episcopal History, an issue that commemorates the 70^th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Three other studies address global issues of schism in the US midwest, theology in Kenya, and ecclesiology in Canada.

The three peer-reviewed studies and one article focused on racial integration and healing are:                

• ·       “The Church School Vision Renewed: the Development Toward Racial Integration at Saint James School of Maryland, 1869-1984” in which the Rev. Dr. Brandt L. Montgomery argues that the 1971 racial integration of St. James School in Appalachian Maryland was enabled by its transition from High Church to Anglo-Catholic churchmanship, especially under the headmastership of the Rev. John Owens. Montgomery is chaplain of St. James School and vicar of nearby St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (Lappans) in Boonsboro, part of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.
• ·       “The Racial Integration of Shrine Mont Camps” evaluates racial integration at church camps in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. In this study, the Rev. Charles R. Cowherd notes that movement toward racial integration began in 1947 but was slowed by the so-called ‘Virginia Way’ of compromise, gentility, and moderation. He credits Jim Lincoln, appointed director of the diocese’s Department of Christian Education in 1951, as being a key actor promoting racial integration despite fierce backlash and political opposition. Cowherd is rector of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Herdon, Virginia.
• ·       “Trinity Church, Bridgeport: Connecticut’s Copperhead Episcopal Church” challenges earlier histories of the parish that suggest it was founded to achieve Prayer Book renewal or proto-Anglo-Catholic aims. Instead, Stephen McGrath shows that Trinity Church, founded in 1863, became a haven for “Copperheads” – northern Democrats who favored the South. His study is a reminder that racial discrimination was not an exclusively southern phenomena and that economic and political motives related to slavery divided northern congregations during the U.S. Civil War. McGrath teaches at Central Connecticut State University.
• ·       “Engaged History: Public History in the Diocese of New Jersey Racial Justice Review: Research, Reckoning, Education, and Formation” chronicles historical research and congregational outreach undertaken in the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey since 2022 related to slavery in the colonial and antebellum periods. Engaged History features collaborative projects undertaken by Anglican and Episcopal institutions that confront underrecognized historical narratives. This profile is written by Jolyon G.R. Pruszinski of Princeton University and the Reparations Commission Research Historian for the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey.

Three other peer-reviewed studies addressing global issues in North America and Africa in the autumn issue of AEH are:

• ·       “Anti-Ritualism & Self-Determination: Non-Episcopal Anglican Congregations in Indianapolis before 1977” examines historic “non-Canterbury-aligned Anglican congregations” in Indianapolis. Author Lee R. Little, a church historian and law librarian, identifies historic reasons for schism and failure of breakaway congregations in Indianapolis using case studies of Trinity Reformed Episcopal Church and the African Orthodox Church of St. John the Divine. Little finds that both case studies offer practical lessons for Anglican Communion leaders today.
• ·       Joseph S. Pagano’s “The Anglican Fulfillment Theology of John S. Mbiti” examines Kenyan-born philosopher-priest’s praeparatio evangelica view of traditional African religions, a fulfillment theology that views African religions as positive preparation for the gospels in contrast to traditional Western missionary views that interpreted them as lost in superstition and devilish. Pagano argues that Mbiti’s theology “is not simplistic of formulaic application of Christian truths to African religion and culture” and is instead a “sustained and sensitive treatment of African religions and Christianity in various historical and cultural forms.” Mbiti (1931-2019) is often recognized as the father of modern African theology. The Rev. Dr. Pagano is a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.
• ·       “Liberty and Loyalty: the Canadian Experience and the Transformation of British Ecclesiastical Policy, 1759-1774” by Frederick V. Mills, Sr., provides a historiographic overview of the Quebec Act of 1774 and examines the transition from a policy of religious toleration of dissenters in Quebec to religious liberty in return for loyalty to the crown. Mills is a retired professor of LaGrange College in Georgia, USA, and 1975 recipient of the Brewer Prize from the American Society of Church History.

These studies along with church reviews, book reviews, and exhibit reviews are available in the September 2024 issue of Anglican and Episcopal History. More information is available at hsec.us/aeh.