The summer issue of AEH publishes 5 of the 18 papers presented during the Apostolic Ministry Conference. The conference was held at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University in October 2023.

Conference attendees used language of the 1886 Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral to explore ways “the Historic Episcopate, locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples” is functioning in a modern world of overlapping ecclesiastical jurisdictions. The conference was the brainchild of Berkley Divinity School student Matthew F. Reese and Christopher Adams of Fordham University.

In this issue of AEH, Reese introduces the collection of papers. He writes, “In all these articles, we see that the exercise of the apostolic ministry and its practical, theological, and sacramental implications are hardly abstract concerns. Questions of apostolicity are not simply mediated within ecumenical working groups– they are played out in the missional, pastoral, and liturgical work of Christian communities. We also see the messiness and malleability of denominational lines.”

The published papers include:

“Having the Lord’s Body to Give: John Keble, Eucharistic Warrant, and the Colonizing Logics of Property” by Ed Watson, a PhD candidate at Yale University. Watson also offers a brief tribute of gratitude to the late Robert Willis (1947-2024), the Dean of Canterbury from 2000-2022, for influencing his work.

Caleb Lindgren questions whether the Reformed tradition should embrace the episcopacy as a way to bring order to the church. He considers the work of Scottish Reformed theologian John Geddes MacGregor (1909-1998) in advocating for a reformed episcopate.

Lindgren is a doctoral candidate in systemic theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. His article is “Bishop’s Gambit: Reformed Ecclesiology and the Possibility of a Reformed Episcopate,”

The next study considers events in South Asia.

“Contextualizing Apostolic Tradition and Denominational Affinities: the Tryst of Saint Thomas Christians of Southern India with Multiple Christian Traditions” explores complexities of apostolic authority and interactions of Christian denominations.

Sinu Rose finds that “The churches of Thomas Christians that once stood as material expressions of their Christian faith and Indian identity until the sixteenth century have now become sites of conflict, venues for displaying the splendor of their denomination, or spaces for expressing ecclesiastical allegiance. The Thomas Christian community, with its roots tracing back to the apostolic era, presents a compelling case for the need to reevaluate the perceptions surrounding their exclusive claims to apostolic origin and the implications of their superior caste consciousness.”

Rose is a postdoctoral scholar at the Department of History, University of Kentucky. Her focus is ways historical processes have changed the religious landscape of South Asia.

Greta Gaffin turns readers’ attention to movements within the United States in an article titled “Black Nationalist Anglicanism: George Alexander McGuire and the African Orthodox Church.”

This study recounts the life and ministry of black Episcopal priest George Alexander McGuire (1866-1934) and his attempt to create the African Orthodox Church as an Episcopalian version of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She examines the denomination’s initial successes then considers reasons it did not become a long-term player in the African American religious landscape. In line with the volume’s theme, important factors relate to legitimacy and apostolic succession.

Gaffin is a master’s student at Boston University. Her research focuses on clergy at the margins of their traditions.

The final study is “Apostolicity and Ecumenicity in Ministry: Lessons from the United Liturgy for East Africa (ULEA)” by E. Okelloh Ogera.

Ogera argues that the ULEA was a significant step toward ecumenicity among Anglicans, Lutherans, Moravians, Methodists, and Presbyterians during the 1960s. However, it was undermined by differing understanding of apostolicity from the participating churches.

Ogera is an ordained priest and head of the Bishop Okullu School of Theology at Great Lakes University in Kisumu, Kenya.

These studies along with exhibit and book reviews are available in the latest issue of AEH. Anglican & Episcopal History is the peer-reviewed journal of the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church. It is published quarterly.