Book, church, and film reviews helpful to scholars of church history are featured in the spring 2026 issue of Anglican & Episcopal History (AEH). Reviews of current scholarship include:

Engaged History

Mark Beckwith reviews the 35-minute documentary-style film Prophets Among Us (Heritage Films) recounting the life and ministry of the Rev. Cn. Ed Rodman (1942-2024).

Rodman was a long-time civil rights activist who operated largely behind the scenes. Beckwith recalls that “With great pride Ed had often said that he never left any fingerprints or footprints in the many conversations and initiatives that he was involved in over more than four decades.” Beckwith writes that the church “needs to see those fingerprints and footprints” from Rodman’s ministry.

Rodman, a canon missioner in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, helped establish the Union of Black Episcopalians and played a crucial role in the group adopting the 1969 “Black Manifesto” calling for $500 million in reparations.

Beckwith is the retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark.

Church Reviews

Church reviews provide readers a glimpse of divine services throughout the Anglican Communion, especially within the Episcopal Church.

In this issue, readers first get a glimpse of Sunday worship at the Church of St. Paul in the Desert in Palm Spring, California, part of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego.

The second church review takes readers to an Advent service at Xujiahui Cathedral during the Covid-19 pandemic. The cathedral is the headquarters of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association’s Diocese of Shanghai.

12 Book Reviews including:

• Anglican Theology: Postcolonial Perspectives edited by Stephen Burns and James Tengatenga | Reviewed by Don H. Compier of the Bishop Kemper School for Ministry
• Black Contemplative Preaching: A Hidden History of Prayer, Proclamation, and Prophetic Witness by E. Trey Clark | Reviewed by Sylvia A. Sweeney of Bloy House, the Episcopal Theological School at Los Angeles
• Lower than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity by Diarmaid MacCulloch | Reviewed by Peter Carlson of California Lutheran University
• Call and Commitment: A Journey of Faith from Nakba to Palestinian Liberation Theology by Naim Stifan Ateek | Reviewed by Newland Smith
• Faith: Conversations in Global Anglican Theology by Michael Battle| Reviewed by Ian T. Douglass, retired bishop of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut
• Changing Mission, Unchanging Faith: Episcopalians and Influence in Indianapolis by Lee Little | Reviewed by Michael Nichols of Purdue University

Anglican and Episcopal History is the peer-reviewed journal of the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church. It is published quarterly. For subscription information visit www.hsec.us/membership.