A History of Advocacy in the Episcopal Church 1789 - 1997

1
A History of Advocacy in the Episcopal
Church1789 - 1997
2
1784

• Samuel Seabury is consecrated as the 1st Bishop
  of the American Church by the non juring bishops
  in Scotland.
• In return, Bishop Seabury agrees that the
  American church will use the Scottish Prayer Book.

3
1789
General Convention

• adopted the Constitution of the Protestant
  Episcopal Church in America.

4
1794
Absalom Jones

• Organized the Free African Society
• First African-American Episcopal Priest, 1802

Commemorated on February 13
5
1826

• Sunday School Union

Urged Sunday Schools to teach the beliefs of the
Episcopal Church, using Bible The Book of Common
Prayer Catechism
6
1835
General Convention

• All Members are considered missionaries.

7
1851
Thomas Gallaudet

• Bible class for deaf people at St. Stephens
  Church New York NY

Commemorated on August 27
8
1853
William Augustus Muhlenburg

• Muhlenburg Memorial
• Asks the Church to
• - Work with other denominations.
• - Present the Gospel in an American Context.

Commemorated April 8
9
1854
James Lloyd Beck

• Apostle of the Wilderness
• Worked among the Oneida, Chippewa Ojibwa

10
1858

• The University of the South (Sewanee) is founded.

11
1859
26th General Convention

• Go among the poor, the outcasts, the unloved and
  the degraded.

12
1861

• The first meeting of the General Council of the
  Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate
  States of America.
• Although they never separated from the Church,
  they met three more times before 1865.

13
1865
Phillips Brooks
Popularly known for the lyrics to O Little Town
of Bethlehem.
Wrote a sermon praising Lincoln and condemning
slavery.
Commemorated on January 23
14
1865
Sister Constance her Companions

• Formed the Sisterhood of St. Mary to minister to
  the sick and dying of the Memphis Yellow Fever
  Epidemic.

The Martyrs of Memphis are remembered on
September 9
15
1866

• Anna Julia Cooper was Christian educator and
  advocate for children who educated freed
  African-Americans after the Civil War.

16
1871
General Convention

• Authorized the women of the church to organize
  the Auxiliary. In January of 1872, it began its
  work.

Julia Chester Emory served as the General
Secretary to the Board of Missions for forty
years.
She is commemorated on January 9
17
1874
William D Wilson

• In his address The Mutual Obligations of Capital
  and Labor to the first Church Congress, said

To the poor Christ said, Be content with your
wages, and to the rich, Work with your own
hands.
18
1876
Henry Winter Syle

• Ordained to the Diaconate making him the first
  deaf person to be ordained.

Commemorated on August 27
19
1883
Conference on the Relation of the Church to the
Colored People

• Meeting at Sewanee, drafted a canon to separate
  Black Episcopalians into a non-geographical
  racial diocese.

20
1883
Richard Hooker Wilmer

• Did not support separate jurisdiction for Black
  Episcopalians.

The only bishop consecrated in the Confederate
States.
21
1889
United Offering

• Now known as the United Thank Offering, was
  established by the Womens Auxiliary to the Board
  of Missions of the Episcopal Church.

22
1907

• Church Workers Among Colored People

The report recommended integration of Black
Episcopalians into the Episcopal Church.
Opposed the 1883 Sewanee Conferences proposal to
have non geographical racial dioceses.
23
1909
Charles D. Williams Fourth Bishop of Michigan

• Believed that labor was not a commodity.

The value of a man is more precious than a bale
of cotton.
24
1916
William Lawrence Seventh Bishop of Massachusetts

• We must turn our forces to give the children
  education through the home, the church and all
  the influences of life.

The child develops in mind, body and spirit
through our aid and leadership.
25
1917
Paul Jones Fourth Bishop of Utah

• Opposed Americas participation in World War I.
• Said, War is Un-Christian.

And, was forced to resign.
Commemorated on September 4
26
1922
47th General Convention

• In response to World War I, the House of Bishops
  called for a warless world and a reduction of
  armaments.

27
1929

• Appalachian School at Penland

Established by the United Thank Offering, in the
Diocese of Western North Carolina, its community
work has helped to reconnect the generations by
serving as nurse, home and parent for boys and
girls between the ages of 2 and 14.
28
1934
Vida Scudder
In The Spirit of Missions her article on social
awareness and action, she writes

• The church advances toward triumph only if we,
  her children, march with the Cross of Christ
  before us.

29
1948
Seabury Curriculum

• Designed to bring the best of theory and practice
  to bear on present needs in Christian education.

30
1948
Seabury Curriculum designated 5 major areas of
Christian knowledge

• 1. Gods self-revelation are recorded in the
  Bible and in Christs life and teachings.
• 2. Historic life of the Church, including present
  day work.
• 3. The beliefs of the Church.
• 4. The Prayer Book, liturgy, and worship of the
  Church.
• 5. The world in which we live and the Christians
  duties, problems and opportunities in it.

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1952
Crisis at Sewanee

• Board of Trustees vote not to admit African
  Americans into its student body.

8 faculty resign.
32
1955
General Convention

• In response to Brown v Board of Education of
  Topeka KS, passed a resolution calling for racial
  cooperation in the Episcopal Church.

33
1961
John M. Gessell

• Education includes our real-life together,
  serving Christ in community.

The result of our education for religious life
is that we are raising a generation of stillborn
children. The Urgency of the Churchs
Educational Task
34
1965
Jonathan Daniels

• He attended Holy Communion in Selma, Alabama,
  with some of his friends who were
  African-American. They werent welcome at the
  altar

August 20th, he stepped into the pathway of a
bullet intended for a 17 year old girl, and was
killed.
Commemorated on August 14
35
1967
John Hines former Presiding Bishop

• In his sermon to the 67th Convention, called for
  a commitment to social justice.
• Commissioned the Bayne Report on the role of the
  church relative to social criticism.

36
1968

• The founding of the Union of Black Epsicopalians
  at St. Augustines College in Raleigh NC.
• Its mission to combat racism in the life of the
  church and the larger community.

Bishop Quinitor Ebenezer Primo was the first
president.
37
1968
Jenny Moore

• The People on Second Street Ministry
• This shared ministry brought together the people
  of Jersey City NJ and Grace Episcopal Church to
  work with the poor, hungry and rejected.

38
1969

• Judy Ward Lineback is the first woman to
  matriculate at the University of the South.

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1969

• General Convention passes a resolution in
  opposition to the death penalty.

40
1974
John Westerhoff

• Challenged the church to an educational revival.

We are to know ourselves as molders of history.
41
1974

• 11 Women are ordained irregularly in
  Philadelphia.
• Dubbed the Philadelphia Eleven.

Their ordinations were not validated until 1979.
42
1976
Report of the Joint Committee of the Church and
Human Affairs

• Affirmed the personhood of homosexuals and
  recognizes their contributions to the Church and
  to Society.

43
1977
Ellen M. Barrett

• Was ordained by the Right Rev. Paul Moore, making
  her the first openly homosexual clergy person in
  the Episcopal Church.

44
1979

• General Convention authorizes an official church
  presence in Washington DC. The Washington
  Office, now called the Office of Government
  Relations, is the most recent mainline
  denominational office to open.

45
1979
Journey Toward Justice
Institutional racism is any policy or practice of
an organization which benefits one race at the
expense of other races.

• The report on the Institutional Racism Project in
  the Diocese of Southern Ohio.

It is not the motivation of the institution or
its members that counts. What counts are the
results from the policies and practices.
46
1982

• Archbishop Desmond Tutu addresses General
  Convention in New Orleans.
• General Convention creates Jubilee Ministries and
  the Public Policy Network.

47
1982

• The Presiding Bishops Fund for World Relief
  celebrated its 50th anniversary.

48
1985

• Edmond Browning
• Former Presiding Bishop

This Church of ours is open to all -- There will
be no outcasts. Address to General Convention
49
1990

• Verna Dozier
• Adjunct faculty member at Virginia Theological
  Seminary.

...that, to me, is the possibility for a new
humanity, every man, woman and child says yes to
themselves and yes to every other human
being. Saying Yes in a No World, The Witness
Photo by Bob Kinney
50
1994
National Episcopal Childrens Advocacy Conference

• In Cincinnati OH, child advocates from across the
  country gathered to discuss ways to implement
  programs to advocate and minister for and with
  children and families in various ways.

51
1995

• Church Insurance Company mandates child abuse
  prevention training for all priests and staff who
  work with children.

52
1995
TREASURE Kids! Project

• What would the Episcopal Church look like if
  children were accepted as full and participating
  members of the body of Christ?

The TREASURE Kids! Project asked Gretchen
Pritchard to look at their material...
In the Episcopal Church we TREASURE KIDS!
she molded it into the Childrens Charter for
the Church.
53
1996
Stand for Children

• On June 1, 1996 Episcopalians from across the
  country joined with more than 100,000 others to
  support the Childrens Defense Funds call to
  raise awareness for children.

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1997
Resolution passed asking each diocese to read
and study the
Each diocese is then asked to live it out
locally.
55
1998

• 400 people gathered to explore the Childrens
  Charter and ways to live it out in their parishes
  and dioceses.

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This information compiled from

• Don Armentrout, Robert Slocum, Documents of
  Witness A History of the Episcopal Church
  1782-1985. Church Hymnal Corporation, 1994
• David Holmes, A Brief History of the Episcopal
  Church, Trinity Press International, 1993
• Robert Prichard, A History of the Episcopal
  Church, Morehouse Publishing, 1991.
• Lesser Feasts and Fasts, Church Pension Fund, 1998

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Compiled by

• Childrens Ministries OfficeEpiscopal Church
  Center815 Second Ave New York NY 10017
• 800/334-7626 x5212