For the Union of Evangelical Christendom: The Irony of the Reformed Episcopalians

by Allen C. Guelzo

American Episcopalians have long prided themselves on their love of consensus and their position as the church of American elites. They have, in the process, often forgotten that during the nineteenth century their church was racked by a divisive struggle that threatened to tear apart the very fabric of the Episcopal Church. On one side of this struggle was a powerful and aggressive Evangelical party who hoped to make the Episcopal Church into the democratic head of "the sisterhood of Evangelical Churches" in America; on the other side was the Oxford Movement, equally powerful and aggressive but committed to a range of Romantic principles which celebrated disillusion and disgust with evangelicalism and democracy alike. The resulting conflict—over theology, liturgy, and, above all, culture—led to the schism of 1873, in which many Evangelicals left the church to form the Reformed Episcopal Church. For the Union of Evangelical Christendom tells this largely forgotten story using the case of the Reformed Episcopalians to open up the ironic anatomy of American religion at the turn of the century. Today, as the Episcopal Church once again finds itself enmeshed in cultural and religious crisis, the remembrance of a similar crisis a century ago brings an eerily prophetic ring to this remarkable work of cultural and religious history.

Genres: History, Christian, Theology

Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Allen Carl Guelzo (born 1953) is the Henry R. Luce III Professor of the Civil War Era at Gettysburg College, where he serves as Director of the Civil War Era Studies Program.

Reviews

[Drew Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.4

What a solid, pure history, academic yet approachable work. Guelzo uses the lens of ‘irony’ to examine the history of the Reformed Episcopal Church from before its founding through the late 20th century. This lens of irony is his way of explaining and reconciling the often cavernous gap between motives and results, between what a group set out to accomplish, and what actually occurred.

Guelzo sketches a story that is filled with idealists, fools, zealous disciples of Christ, and power-hungry wretches. Many men were all four simultaneously. Here are the big topics this book has made me ponder:
- Anglo-Catholicism/Ritualism as an anti-modernist, industrial-skeptic movement, motivated by Romanticism.
- Anglo-Catholicism as a church vs. state power struggle, a continued reverberation of the Henrician Reformation.
- The laughable lack of historicity of more extreme Anglo-Catholicism, and the often bare-faced, quiet-part-out-loud, imitation of Rome purely for the sake of imitating Rome.
- That there are perhaps parallels between the rise of Ritualism in that Industrial Revolution, and the rise of ‘Rad-Trads’ in this current Information/Digital Revolution.
- The pastoral wisdom of different ritual/devotional practices for the church of different ages. I posit that Anglo-Catholics weren’t wrong to introduce some transcendence and enchantment for Christians living decrepit early industrial urban lives. Perhaps the same is true today. But the political/ecclesial methods they used to dominate the PEC were indefensible, unchristian, and unconcerned with the healthy faith and community of average parishioners.
- Those who leave, lose.
- There was no golden age of the Episcopal Church that we can return to. Those who truly love Christ’s gospel have ALWAYS been in a mortal battle for this tradition and liturgy. The battle continues today.

Summary:
Guelzo starts with the very roots of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America (which was entirely fascinating and enlightening to me), up through the Evangelical vs. High Churchmen tensions, on through the development of the Tractarian/Oxford/Anglo-Catholicism Movement, on to the developing tension between Evangelical Episcopals and the Ritualists. This was INCREDIBLY well done, and drew out so many larger societal developments, movements, and historical cause-and-effects that the ecclesial controversies existed within.

Guelzo then goes through the founding and early years of the REC in-depth, followed by a faster pace starting sometime around 1910 and the death of that ‘first generation’ of REC thinkers. This was informative but not as addictive.

[Ben Smitthimedhin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent storytelling and history of the REC with disappointing outcomes and missed opportunities. Seems Guelzo is cautioning many against denominational break-offs that end up playing insider baseball and fighting off their own radicals.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good scholarship and a well written book of Church History.

[Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

At one time I had considered seeking to be a minister in the REC. Given their current direction, and the history contained herein, I'm glad I didn't got that way.

[Chris Schutte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched narrative of the birth and development of the REC. Much insight on the little-known history of Evangelicals within The Episcopal Church.