Historians explore the breadth of the Anglican Communion in the winter issue of Anglican and Episcopal History. The Historical Society of the Episcopal Church’s peer-reviewed journal has been expanding the depth and breadth of content over the last year. The winter issue includes five research articles including:

Afro-Centric Liturgical Music and Its Implementation at St. Philip’s Church, Harlem

An exploration of ways music, Episcopal liturgy, and African diasporic culture elements have been woven together at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, Harlem, the second Black congregation of the Episcopal Church founded in 1809.

Carl Maultsby explores the evolution of liturgical practices at St. Philip’s with special attention to ways “music played a crucial role in both community outreach and worship.” Maultsby draws on sources like Langston Hughes’ 1934 poem “But Not at Saint Philips,” the influence of jazz talent Thomas A. Dorsey, and highlights the successive influence of St. Philip’s music leaders. Those leaders included William B. Cooper from 1953 to 1974, Eugene Wilson Hancock from 1974 to 1982, and Aaron Thorton who Maultsby recalls as the “most versatile and overall best musician in the second half of the twentieth century.”

Maultsby also chronicles ways Cooper heavily influenced the development of Lift Every Voice and Sing (LEVAS I), the first Episcopal hymnal focused on the Black experience. Maultsby is currently the director of music at St. Richard’s Episcopal Church in Winter Park, Florida, and formerly served as assistant organist at St. Philip’s, Harlem.

Anne Wheathill: Her Person and Her Prayer Book Reenvisioned

Thomas P. Mulvey Jr. challenges previous research related to early modern poet Anne Wheathill and her English devotional text A handful of holesome (though homelie) hearbs published in 1584.

Mulvey contends that focus on Wheathill’s literary qualities alone downplays her significance as an influential spiritual leader. His close examination of her 49 degendered collage psalm prayers leads to the conclusion that Wheathill was heavily influenced by the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer.

“Wheathill writes straightforwardly and mellifluently with the insight and maturity of an author who Is sensitive to the spiritual needs and reading capabilities of her imagined audience,” according to the author.

Mulvey is an independent scholar and priest in the Episcopal Church with research interests on late medieval and early modern piety in England and Northern Europe.

Anne Finch, countess of Winchilsea, and Nonjuror: The Power of Poetry in Time of Persecution

“Church historians overlooked Anne Finch’s (1661-1720) contributions to the English Nonjurors for two centuries,” according to John William Klein. He reminds readers that faith was an empowering space for early feminists like Finch.

Klein helps readers rediscover ways that Finch made important feminine contributions related to the social and aesthetic aspects of the English Nonjuror movement alongside male clerical leadership of the time. This included Finch’s hymn writing and socio-economic commentary.

“Anne Finch demonstrated a commitment to the dignity of women and to their place in the intellectual, artistic, and ecclesiastical community of England. Her work was profoundly valued within the community of Nonjurors and was admired by many in the establishment,” writes Klein.

Klein is a 1971 graduate of the Philadelphia Divinity School and a priest with 53 years of service in 9 parishes and 20 years as a US Army Chaplain.

Martyred Anglicans: the Persecution of the Nippon Sei Kō Kai and its Implications for Anglican Ecclesiology

Many Anglicans suffered during wartime persecution in Japan. Thomas Frances Caroe considers what lessons we might learn today from the wartime martyrdom of Paul Sasaki Shinji (1885-1946) and Sugai Todomu (1883-1947). Both men were leaders of Nippon Sei Kō Kai, the Anglican province in Japan.

Caroe writes that they were persecuted not as Christians, but specifically for their Anglican identity because the denomination had links to Japan’s military adversaries in the US and UK. Archbishop of Canterbury Cosmo Gordon Lang’s condemnation of Japan’s invasion of China in 1937 increased pressure on Anglicans in Japan.

“What Sasaki and Sugai gave their lives for was an episcopal church order that they believed to demonstrate the fundamental principle of Christian communion: an ultimate concern for personal relationships above norms, teachings, ideologies, or legalities,” writes Caroe. He suggests a powerful lesson can be learned from their commitment and wiliness to share life together, not as an institution, but as persons of faith willing to face challenges.

Caroe studied Japanese, music, and theology at the University of Oxford. He is currently an assistant curate in the Church of England.

“English Church Leaders and Travel to Rome in the Late Nineteenth Century” Episodes in Ecumenical Consciousness”

Jeremy Morris considers whether travel can broaden the religious mind. His study focuses on ways visiting Rome contributed to changing attitudes toward the Roman Catholic Church among senior Church of England clergy from 1800-1850s.

Morris investigates four case studies: Edward White Benson (1829-1896), Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 to 1896; Randall Davidson (1848-1930), Archbishop from 1903 to 1928; Mandell Creighton (1843-1901), historian of the papacy and bishop of London from 1897 to1901; exceptionally long-lived Charles Wood (1839-1934), 2nd Viscount Halifax, long-time president of the (Anglo-Catholic) English Church Union.

Morris is a former Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and a historian of modern Anglicanism and ecumenicism.

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. For subscription information visit hsec.us/membership.