Faith in Their Own Color: Black Episcopalians in Antebellum New York City (Religion and American Culture)

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On a September afternoon in 1853, three African American men from St. Philip's Church walked into the Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and took their seats among five hundred wealthy and powerful white church leaders. Ultimately, and with great reluctance, the Convention had acceded to the men's request: official recognition for St. Philip's, the first African American Episcopal church in New York City. In Faith in Their Own Color, Craig D. Townsend tells the remarkable story of St. Philip's and its struggle to create an autonomous and independent church. His work unearths a forgotten chapter in the history of New York City and African Americans and sheds new light on the ways religious faith can both reinforce and overcome racial boundaries.
Founded in 1809, St. Philip's had endured a fire; a riot by anti-abolitionists that nearly destroyed the church; and more than forty years of discrimination by the Episcopalian hierarchy. In contrast to the majority of African Americans, who were flocking to evangelical denominations, the congregation of St. Philip's sought to define itself within an overwhelmingly white hierarchical structure. Their efforts reflected the tension between their desire for self-determination, on the one hand, and acceptance by a white denomination, on the other.
The history of St. Philip's Church also illustrates the racism and extraordinary difficulties African Americans confronted in antebellum New York City, where full abolition did not occur until 1827. Townsend describes the constant and complex negotiation of the divide between black and white New Yorkers. He also recounts the fascinating stories of historically overlooked individuals who built and fought for St. Philip's, including Rev. Peter Williams, the second African American ordained in the Episcopal Church; Dr. James McCune Smith, the first African American to earn an M.D.; pickling magnate Henry Scott; the combative priest Alexander Crummell; and John Jay II, the grandson of the first chief justice of the Supreme Court and an ardent abolitionist, who helped secure acceptance of St. Philip's.
Faith in Their Own Color: Black Episcopalians in Antebellum New York City (Religion and American Culture) Review
Faith In Their Own Color is a Howard Zinn-like "people's history" of Black Episcopalians in Antebellum New York City. Perhaps various versions of the story that author Craig D. Townsend tells have been told before, but certainly not from a "people's" perspective, as Townsend's research of this community included a scrupulous reading of century-and-a-half old vestry and diocesan convention minutes, as well as diaries, letters, and correspondence of the people involved. When histories involve racism, scandal, or corruption, they are oftentimes told (if they are told at all) from a morally unambiguous stance - there are heroes and villains and the choices between good and evil appear to have been clear and easy. Such a simplistic telling of complex histories has plagued history books for generations, but in this case, Townsend has done a faithful job of lifting up the complexities of the story of a particular Episcopal Church in antebellum New York City. In the end, the story gets told, but the complex questions aren't necessarily answered.
This particular church was actually a particular group of faithful African Americans who eventually made up St. Philip's Episcopal Church in New York City. These people included the Rev. Peter Williams (the second African American to be ordained to the priesthood by the Episcopal Church), Dr. James McCune Smith, Peter Ray, Henry Scott, Philip White, and many others. Along with these leaders, the people of St. Philip's were committed to being Episcopalian rather than joining or forming a separate African American denomination, as was common in that era. This commitment to the Episcopal Church created a number of tensions and paradoxes into which those involved (on both sides) were forced to live. The primary tension that Townsend lifts up is that the people of St. Philip's were constantly at the mercy of the all-white hierarchical structure of the Episcopal Church, yet they seemingly were willing to be in order to achieve their goal of being recognized as an autonomous congregation within that very hierarchical church. "The oppressive measures imposed formally and informally by white citizens created both strictly parallel black and white cultures and the simultaneous necessity for interaction between those cultures in order to regulate or negotiate their relationship." (p. 3) This parallel certainly was the case of St. Philip's and the Episcopal Diocese of New York. Why were the people of St. Philip's so committed to joining the organization that had for so long denied them of their full humanity? Townsend reminds the reader that the answer is not simple, and that it is not safe to make broad-sweeping generalizations about the people of St. Philip's, for as a body they appeared to be rather unified in their goal, but they were still made up of a remarkably diverse group of individuals. But what most of these individuals seemed to share in common was a deep love and respect for the worship and polity of the Episcopal Church, and the desire to be officially recognized as being worthy of full participation. And they were willing to play by the rules to get what they wanted. What could be more Episcopalian? If they had to prove that they could be "orderly and devout" in their worship, they were willing to do so. Townsend's research revealed that on more than one occasion, St. Philip's was recognized by white high churchmen (including Bishop John Henry Hobart) as being particularly faithful in carrying out the rubrics of high church worship. Once again, irony prevailed as the church that was trying to prove its worthiness of full inclusion was actually setting the bar for high church worship in the diocese.
The Episcopal Church's goal of unity in the midst of the 19th century political upheaval surrounding slavery ended up being what finally allowed St. Philip's to be admitted to the New York Diocesan Convention in 1853. But once again, irony abounds, as the primary reason that St. Philip's was admitted to the convention was that it would put an end to the larger debate of slavery/abolition, which was dividing Protestant denominations such as the Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists. The Episcopal Church avoided division by avoiding the issue. When Episcopal abolitionist rabble-rousers like John Jay II insisted on speaking of the larger and more divisive issue of racism in the Episcopal Church, and slavery in the United States, it initially hurt St. Philip's' case, because his impassioned pleas on the floor of diocesan conventions immediately got the issue tabled, year after year. However, when St. Philip's' officiating (white) minister William Morris approached the convention in a more moderate and politically tactful manner, the goal of inclusion was finally achieved. But while St. Philip's rejoiced in finally being fully included in the Episcopal Diocese of New York, ironically, it was at the price of the larger issue of slavery being set aside.
Unfortunately, Townsend's research failed to uncover much evidence of the role of the women of the St. Philip's community. He observes that as in most churches of that era, the women likely had a pivotal role in the life of the community, but it just wasn't recorded in their records.
As mentioned above, Townsend doesn't set out to provide simple answers to complex questions. Instead, he tells a story that had not yet been told, and in doing so, many questions remain. Were the people of St. Philip's betraying their fellow African Americans by joining the enemy? Was the Diocese of New York's inclusion of St. Philip's a left-handed gesture, inspired by self-preservation rather than social justice? Was the far-left liberal abolitionist John Jay actually as helpful to St. Philip's as previous histories have made him out to be? Why did Jay never worship or socialize with any of the very African Americans for whom he advocated? Was the Reverend Peter Williams a courageous trailblazer for African Americans or an obsequious fence walker that was afraid to stand up for himself and his congregation? All of these questions point to the number of complexities and ironies that arose in the story unearthed by Townsend. Though Townsend didn't provide easy answers in his book, in telling the "people's" history of St. Philip's Episcopal Church, he leaves no doubt that this community of people was as faithful and committed to the worship, polity, and mission of the Episcopal Church as any diocese or any bishop could hope to have under their care.
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