Prominent church historians explore Episcopalian ministries among Native Americans, Huguenot influences, and legacies of the Oxford Movement in the autumn issue of Anglican and Episcopal History (AEH).

In the lead article, Robert W. Prichard explores ways Episcopalians interacted with U.S. Government policy toward Native Americans following the Civil War. His study draws attention to high-profile Episcopalians who participated in U.S. President Ulysses Grant’s policies. These leaders included Minnesota diocesan bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple (1822-1901), Philadelphia merchant William Welsh (c. 1810-1878), Pittsburgh railway director Felix R. Brunot (1820-1898), artist Vincent Colyer (1824-1888), and Grant’s Secretary to the Interior Columbus Delano (1809-1896).

Prichard concludes that, “Episcopalians provided significant leadership on the Board of Indian Commissioners.” He also notes that they differed from other Christian denominations in that, “Episcopalians were exceptionally willing to criticize government figures and even their own co-religionists.”

The article is titled “The Ministry of the Episcopal Church among Native Americans from the Grant Administration to the Early Twentieth Century.” Prichard is professor emeritus at the Virginia Theological Seminary and a past president of the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church.

Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook, currently Historiographer of the Episcopal Church and editor-in-chief of AEH, then explores Anglo-Catholic influences among the Oneida in “The Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity and the Wisconsin Oneida.”

Kujawa-Holbrook finds that the sisters “exercised their roles with compassion and commitment to alleviate human suffering. They were progressive for their time in recognizing the heritages, gifts, and dignity of the [Oneida] people.” However, she cautions readers that “It is difficult to assess the relationship between the Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity and the Oneidas in binary terms. The relationship between the Oneida and the Episcopal Church must be considered within the context of five centuries of Indigenous-Christian encounters in the Americas.”

Anne Richter, a retired priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado, traces the work and evangelism of Elias Neau (1662-1722), a sailor and merchant with connections to France, Saint-Dominque (modern Haiti), Boston, and New York City. Neau founded a school for enslaved persons in New York City in 1704. He constantly fought to be accepted as he faced criticism from white masters who disapproved of him teaching the enslaved and struggled with Anglican clergy who were skeptical of his Reformist roots.

Richter’s study is titled “Elias Neau’s School: Early Anglican Catechesis of Enslaved Africans in New York.”

Two studies explore themes related to the ministry of English Anglican theologian and Oxford Movement Leader Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882).

These are:

• “The ‘Reanimation Principle’ of Edward Bouverie Pusey: the Re-establishment of Monasticism in the Church of England” by Greg Peters, professor of medieval and spiritual theology at Nashotah House Theological Seminary. Peters’ outlines Pusey’s steps for reanimating institutions of the primitive church, such as monasticism, that could improve the health of the church.
• “E. B. Pusey’s The Minor Prophets and the Devotional Reading of Holy Scripture” by Timothy Larsen, McManis Professor of Christian Thought at Wheaton College and President of the American Society of Church History. Larsen critiques earlier historical works by arguing Pusey embraced modern biblical criticism. He points to Pusey as a key theological voice for inclusion as part of a growing interest in Anglican interpretation of scripture. Larsen argues that Pusey’s “The Minor Prophets is a surprisingly neglected text that is ripe for study.”

The final study in the fall issue of AEH is “The Impact of Charles James Stewart upon Anglican Worship in the Diocese of Quebec, 1825-1835.” Paul Christianson, emeritus professor of history at Queen’s University, invites readers to discover the significant impact Stewart had on worship among Canadian Anglicans. Stewart was the second Anglican Bishop of Quebec from 1826 until 1837.

These studies along with reviews of exhibits, podcasts, and scholarly books are available in the latest issue of Anglican and Episcopal History. The journal 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.