Tuesday, June 17, 2025
EVENT: "The Nowness of Reparations for Black People in New Jersey" at 7pm on Juneteenth at NJPAC - Newark
Monday, June 9, 2025
EVENT: Journey Toward Reparations Webinar: Church of England Reparatory Accountability with Georgia Boon, June 24, 2025 at 7pm
Monday, May 26, 2025
The Episcopal Mission at the Free Black Settlement of Macedonia, NJ: 1853-1887
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| Sandy Hook Quadrangle - USGS 1918 (Macedonia detail) |
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| Long Branch West, NJ Quadrangle - USGS 2023 (Macedonia detail) |
The second Black ministry[1] founded the Diocese of New Jersey that went beyond a simple parish school was the so-called “colored” mission at the village of Macedonia in what was then Shrewsbury. “Macedonia… [had been] founded ca. 1820 as one of the initial free black settlements in Monmouth County, following the emancipation of slaves in New Jersey.”[2] By the time of the 1854 diocesan convention[3] Bishop Doane was reporting on a new mission there with great excitement:
On Wednesday, [April] 19… in the evening, in the Methodist Meeting House, at Macedonia, the Rev. Mr. Finch, the Rector of the Parish, read prayers, and I preached, and confirmed eight persons. This was a service of peculiar interest. Macedonia is a settlement of African descendants, within the extensive boundaries of the Parish of Shrewsbury. Mr. Finch, in the midst of his abundant labours, has paid much attention to these people. His pains are well rewarded, by these seals of his ministry. One of them was formerly a minister of the Protestant Methodist connection. He is, now, a lay reader, under Mr. Finch’s direction; and may become a candidate for orders. It was a very dark night. The building stands on the edge of a forest. The approach to it, as the lights glimmered through the pines, was as picturesque, as the scene was impressive. Some of the good people of Shrewsbury, bad as the roads were, had “come over, to Macedonia, to help us” on.[4]
Doane’s excitement was certainly merited at this earliest episcopal visit. The eight confirmations at Macedonia were more than those at the sponsoring parish of Christ Church, Shrewsbury,[5] and in fact were more than the number of confirmations at all but 11 of the parishes and missions in the diocese in that year. In 1855, Doane made another episcopal visit to the mission, preaching “to a congregation of coloured people”[6] and baptizing.
The mission at Macedonia seems to have grown out of the “parish school for coloured children,”[7] also known as the “African School in the Pines,” funded by Christ Church, Shrewsbury.[8] By 1856 the school was serving eighty students,[9] by 1857 it boasted 108,[10] and in 1858 it had swelled to 120.[11] The abolitionist John N. Still,[12] brother of the famous Dr. James Still[13] and William Still,[14] was the first teacher of the school named in diocesan documentation.[15] Still is almost certainly the Macedonian lay reader mentioned by Doane who he expected would become a candidate for Holy Orders. Though the practice of publishing a list of formally licensed readers in the Diocese had not yet begun, it is likely that Still was the first African American to hold this office in the diocese.[16] On May 7, 1856 Still indeed did become the first Black candidate for Holy Orders in the Diocese of New Jersey.[17]
For years the parish school and mission thrived under Still’s leadership. The school reported attendance of between 100 and 123 students every year from 1857 to 1862.[18] The mission at Macedonia received a service every Sunday[19] and, after Doane’s death, episcopal visits continued under Bishop Odenheimer, who continued to perform confirmations there every year between 1861 and 1865, including seven confirmations in 1862 and eight in 1864.[20] All this occurred without any diocesan financial support for the mission. Macedonia and the associated free “colored” parish school were funded exclusively by donations from Christ Church, Shrewsbury and through the labor of Still and other Macedonians, with support from the Christ Church rector, Rev. Harry Finch. The success of the mission was certainly the direct product of Still’s labors, but Still’s ordination candidacy was never moved forward. Diocesan authorities allowed him to linger on the diocesan “Candidates for Holy Orders” list, neither outright rejecting him, nor ordaining him a deacon for at least nine years.
Finally Still stepped down as the parish school teacher, and his position was taken over briefly by Charles Rodgers,[21] and then Daniel Landin.[22] This change coincided with the retirement of the long-serving Finch in 1862.[23] Finch was succeeded at Christ Church by the Rev. Thomas J. Taylor who did not take over significant responsibility for the Macedonia mission. The last time Still is listed as a candidate for Holy orders is in 1864,[24] and it is unclear why his candidacy ended. However, it does seem clear that he was repeatedly passed over for ordination in spite of his successful ministry. White candidates regularly were quickly ordained during the period,[25] while he waited patiently to no effect.
Daniel Landin led the mission as lay reader starting in 1864 with ostensible oversight from Rev. Taylor, but it appears that Taylor did not really want to be involved.[26] Taylor, in his 1865 parochial report offered the following paternalistic statement regarding the work in Macedonia:
At Macedonia, the interest in those who attend our services improves greatly, convincing us that the orderly service of our holy Church is best adapted to the wants of those humble people who delight to worship in that form of sound words, in which the Church directs that her children in every sphere of life shall offer their prayers and praises unto the Lord.[27]
Though he uses “we” here to suggest some involvement, his formal reporting suggests that he assisted at all the neighboring (White) missions except Macedonia.[28] Taylor’s tenure was brief and his leaving disruptive.[29] Upon his departure in 1865, Christ Church Shrewsbury was closed for six months,[30] the parish school closed,[31] and little support provided for the work at Macedonia.
The Rev. William B. Otis and Daniel Landin labored to restart the work and episcopal visits resumed in 1867-68 but without any confirmations,[32] though Odenheimer was pleased with the catechesis performed there.[33] By 1869 confirmations resumed, with two reported then,[34] and two more in 1870.[35] Odenheimer continued to visit the mission[36] throughout the rest of his episcopate,[37] but even so, Macedonia did not have the regular services at this time, one of only three missions in the New Brunswick Convocation without such.[38] Once the quickly growing Diocese of New Jersey split in 1874, and St. Philip’s, Newark joined the newly formed Diocese of Newark, the Macedonia mission became the only Black church or mission in the reformed Diocese of [southern] New Jersey.
Under the newly installed Bishop Scarborough (and the new rector of Christ Church, Shrewsbury, Rev. Benjamin Franklin), the mission continued to operate without diocesan financial support. The last time Landin was reported as lay reader for the mission is 1873,[39] and no lay reader appears to have been appointed (or re-appointed) at Macedonia under Scarborough. In his parochial report of 1876 Franklin wrote:
Fortnightly services on Sunday afternoons have been held at the Macedonia Mission for Colored People; attendance [has been] regular and large. A missionary might be advantageously placed over this mission, if the means could be provided.[40]
Unfortunately the means were never provided, even though there was some significant giving for the Freedmen’s Commission and “Home Missions to Colored People” in the diocese during this time.[41] Bishop Scarborough, continuing a portion of the practice of his predecessor, visited Macedonia with some regularity for a while, reporting a single confirmation in 1876, and another in 1877.[42] However, for the rest of its life no baptisms, confirmations, communicants, marriages, burials, Sunday school, parish school, or offerings were reported in association with the mission in diocesan records.[43]
In the early 1880’s the mission was removed from Christ Church, Shrewsbury’s oversight and purview and attached to St. James Memorial Church, Eatontown, but it appears that the support provided by Eatontown was limited. In his parochial report of 1883, the rector, Rev. Loop writes:
The (col.) Macedonia Mission has four families consisting of 15 persons, besides the individuals above reported. One young man raised there is preparing at Raleigh, N. C., for the ministry. Inability to obtain conveyance has prevented my giving them any Service, though I visit them.[44]
By 1886 the mission and its overseeing parish had ceased filing reports with the diocese,[45] and at some point in the latter half of the decade it closed.
At no point in the 1880s does it appear that Bishop Scarborough had visited the mission. That “colored” missions had not yet fully captured Scarborough’s mind or heart can be seen from his Episcopal Address of 1888:
There are many and important questions before the church to-day, earnestly discussed in their various bearing, and clamoring for an answer; but as they do not pertain specially to the work of our own Diocese, I need not detain you with their consideration at any length here. The four millions of negroes who were in servitude little more than a quarter of a century ago, are now increased to seven or eight millions. What effect this ignorant mass will have on our civilization is a question that concerns the statesman as well as the Christian. The whole question on both its social and religious side is hemmed in with difficulties. As yet our own Church has done little toward its solution or settlement. A new agency has been created with the hope of rousing new interest. I bespeak for the cause a hearing and a favorable answer.[46]
At that time, Bishop Scarborough seemed to think that the question of “what effect this ignorant mass will have on our civilization” was one that did “not pertain specially to the work” of the Diocese of New Jersey. But within two years he had changed his mind. What had changed it was the dedicated work of Rev. Townsend to found a “colored” mission associated with St. John’s, Camden, a work which Scarborough could not afford to ignore in light of its 42 confirmations in that year.[47]
In his address of 1890 Scarborough wrote:
why should we send our money to the South to build churches and chapels when we have the same work at our own doors, and are leaving it undone? Clearly this work will soon outgrow the ability of a struggling parish to carry it on, and the question will force itself upon us: What are we going to do with that long list of communicants who have cast in their lot with us? We dare not leave them unshepherded, and we will not drive them into schism by cold neglect! We can solve the race problem very glibly for South Carolina and Georgia. Can we solve it for New Jersey? … It may be that God is opening up for us here a new field for our missionary energy, to quicken and excite our enthusiasm. I dare say other cities might follow the example of Camden and organize missions for this neglected class—neglected certainly in our ministrations.[48]
Regrettably, Scarborough’s chastisement of his fellow Episcopalians was one he himself deserved as well. He had certainly been guilty of “cold neglect” of the communicants of the Macedonia mission who had “cast in their lot” with the Episcopal Church. The Diocese had indeed sent its modest offerings for “colored missions” to the South rather than using them at home. Requests for direct diocesan support had gone unmet and in spite of years of faithful ministry, especially by John N. Still and Daniel Landin, and enthusiastic response in Macedonia, the diocese had only supported White missions and had neglected Macedonia.
Scarborough was right to admit that “Hitherto there has been little effort made on the part of our Church in this Diocese to reach the colored population”[49] but his mischaracterization of the Macedonia mission belied his own prejudice and failure. In that same 1890 convention address he wrote, “formerly there was a feeble mission at Macedonia, near Eatontown, but it gradually died out, and the chapel is now used as a school-house.”[50] The historical record shows that for most of its life the Macedonia mission was not feeble. Neither did it “die out,” as if of its own weakness. Rather, the diocese starved it of financial support through decades of neglect, even though there was an awareness in the diocese, even before the founding of the Macedonia mission, that Black missions required, and were owed reparatory financial support.[51]
Scarborough’s address of 1890 was a turning point in the history of the diocese, and the rest of his tenure was marked by concerted attempts to plant, fund, and support Black churches. Unfortunately, for the people of the Macedonia mission, Scarborough’s change of heart came too late.
Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.
Reparations Commission Research Historian
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey
[1] The first was St. Philip’s, Newark. See Calloway and Pruszinski, “A History of Trinity and St. Philip’s Cathedral,” DNJRJR (September 25, 2023): https://dionj-racialjusticereview.blogspot.com/2023/09/a-history-of-trinity-and-st-philips.html.
[2] The Cultural Resource Group, Louis Berger & Associates, Inc. “Archaeological Survey for Proposed Wayside Housing Site: Earle Naval Weapons Station, Monmouth County, New Jersey” (July 1987), 15. Local legend has it that Rev. Harry Finch of Christ Church, Shrewsbury is actually responsible for naming the settlement “Macedonia.” See James Steen, History of Christ Church, Shrewsbury, New Jersey: From 1703 to 1903 (Shrewsbury, NJ: Christ Church, Shrewsbury, 1972), 82.
[3] In 1852 it had either not yet been started or Doane did not know about it. See G. W. Doane, The Argument of the Bishop of New Jersey: In Reply to the Paper Read Before the Court of Bishops, in Session at Burlington, on Monday, 11 October, 1852, by the Bishops of Virginia, Ohio, and Maine; in Answer to the Representation from the Diocese of New Jersey, Read, Before the Court, by the Rev. Samuel L. Southard (Newark: Printed at the Daily Advertiser Office, 1852), 14.
[4] Diocese of New Jersey, The Episcopal Address, to the Seventy-First Annual Convention, in Grace Church, Newark, Wednesday, May 31, 1854; By The Rt. Rev. George Washington Doane, D.D., L.L.D., Bishop of the Diocese (Burlington: Printed at the Gazette Office, 1854), 13.
[5] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of Proceedings of the Seventy-First Annual Convention; Held in Grace Church, Newark, on Wednesday, 31stof May, MDCCCLIV (Burlington: Printed at the Gazette Office, 1854), 22: In the parochial report of Christ Church, Shrewsbury only 4 are noted.
[6] Diocese of New Jersey, The Episcopal Address, The Twenty-Third, to the Seventy Second Annual Convention; Held in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, on Wednesday, May 30, 1855: By The Rt. Rev. George Washington Doane, D.D., L.L.D., Bishop of the Diocese (Burlington: Printed at the Gazette Office, 1855), 22.
[7] Though the parish school is not actually mentioned in any diocesan journal parochial reports before 1854. The first mention is in the list of offerings in the parochial report of Christ Church Shrewsbury: Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of Proceedings of the Seventy-First Annual Convention, 23: “Parish School, (African,) Christ Church, Shrewsbury, $14.48.” See also Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of Proceedings of the Seventy Third Annual Convention; Held in Grace Church, and in Trinity Church, Newark, on Wednesday, 28 May, MDCCCLVI (Burlington: Samuel C. Atkinson, 1856), 19: from the parochial report for Christ Church Shrewsbury: “Parish School, for coloured children, has been established several years, and numbers about 80.”
[8] Finch and two other White members of Christ Church were appointed trustees of the school in 1852. Steen, History of Christ Church, Shrewsbury, 82.
[9] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of Proceedings of the Seventy Third Annual Convention, 19.
[10] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of Proceedings of the Seventy-Fourth Annual Convention; in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, on Wednesday, 27 May, MDCCCLVII (Burlington: F. Ferguson, 1857), 58.
[11] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of Proceedings of the Seventy-Fifth Annual Convention, in Trinity Church, Newark, on Wednesday, 26 May, MDCCCLVIII (Burlington: Franklin Ferguson, 1858), 32.
[12] Michael F. Hembree and Donald Yacovone, eds., The Black Abolitionist Papers, Volume IV: The United States, 1847-1858 (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1991), 111.
[13] Dr. James Still is often known as the “Doctor of the Pines” (See http://www.drjamesstillcenter.org).
[14] William Still was the author of the first definitive history of the underground railroad: William Still, Still’s Underground Rail Road Records, Revised Edition. With A Life of the Author. (Philadelphia: William Still, 1886).
[15] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of Proceedings of the Seventy-Fourth Annual Convention, 58.
[16] It is possible that a member of St. Philip’s, Newark preceeded him, but St. Philip’s records have been lost and no confirmation can be made. In extant records Still is the first mentioned African American lay reader in the diocese. Elias Kay of St. Philip’s and Daniel Landin, who succeeded him in this capacity at the Macedonia mission, are the first licensed lay readers listed in diocesan convention journal records.
[17] The date is listed in Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of Proceedings of the Seventy-Sixth Annual Convention, in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, on Wednesday, May 25, MDCCCLIX (New York: Pudney & Russell, 1859), 41. He is first listed as a candidate in Diocese of New Jersey, The Episcopal Address, the Twenty-Fourth, to The Seventy Third Annual Convention, in Trinity Church, Newark, Wednesday, May 28, 1856: By The Rt. Rev. George Washington Doane, D.D., L.L.D., Bishop of the Diocese (Burlington: Samuel C. Atkinson, 1856), 36, mistakenly entered as “J. M. Still.”
[18] As reported in diocesan convention journals for those respective years.
[19] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of Proceedings of the Seventy-Ninth Annual Convention in Grace Church, Newark, on Wednesday and Thursday, May 28 & 29, MDCCCLXII (Philadelphia: J.B. Chandler, 1862), 74.
[20] Diocese of New Jersey, The Episcopal Address, the Third, to the Seventy-Ninth Annual Convention, in Grace Church, Newark, Wednesday, May 28, A.D. 1862; By The Rt. Rev. W.H. Odenheimer, D.D., Bishop of the Diocese (Philadelphia: Chandler, 1862), 9; Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-First Annual Convention Held in Grace Church, Newark, on Wednesday and Thursday, May 25th and 26th. MDCCCLXIV (Philadelphia: Chandler, 1864), 44.
[21] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eightieth Annual Convention Held in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, on Wednesday and Thursday, May 27th and 28th. MDCCCLXIII. (Philadelphia: Chandler, 1863), 143.
[22] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-First Annual Convention, 133. Also sometimes spelled “Landen.”
[23] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eightieth Annual Convention, 143.
[24] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-First Annual Convention, 9.
[25] Usually in three years or less.
[26] He was formally the rector of Christ Church, Shrewsbury, but does not appear to have had any significant involvement with Macedonia during his tenure.
[27] See the Christ Church, Shrewsbury parochial report in Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Second Annual Convention, 98.
[28] He was listed as the missionary for multiple White missions (including Howell Works, Tom’s River, and Eatontown), and an unofficially supporting clergyman at multiple other White missions (including at least Farmingdale and Bricksburgh). See Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-First Annual Convention, 6; and Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Second Annual Convention Held in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, on Wednesday, May 31st. MDCCCLXV. (Philadelphia: Chandler, 1865), 64, 76, 98. He resigned at Christ Church to become rector at the newly formed church in Eatontown, but left that church as well (and the diocese) shortly thereafter.
[29] Steen, History of Christ Church, Shrewsbury, 89. He is described by Steen as being of a “Democratic persuasion” (i.e. not Republican) and fractious. During the Civil War in New Jersey this certainly meant that he was sympathetic to the Confederacy and slavery and it is not hard to see why he was not deeply interested in the Macedonia mission.
[30] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Third Annual Convention Held in Grace Church, Newark, on Wednesday, May 30th, MDCCCLXVI (Philadelphia: Chandler, 1866), 67. The parochial report for Christ Church, Shrewsbury made by the rector, Rev. Wm. B. Otis, states: “Christ Church, Shrewsbury, has been closed from October, 1865, until April 1st, 1866. The present rector commenced services on Easter Sunday last. Having been in charge so short a time, he is unable to give a full and accurate report.”
[31] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Fourth Annual Convention Held in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, on Wednesday and Thursday, May 29th and 30th, MDCCCLXVII (New York: John W. Amerman, 1867), 103-104. The Christ Church, Shrewsbury parochial report makes no mention of a church school for “colored” children or otherwise, nor is there any mention of the Macedonia mission. There is mention of the improved state of finances, but it appears that the school must have shut during the recent period of difficulty and likely little done at Macedonia.
[32] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Fifth Annual Convention, Held in Grace Church, Newark, on Wednesday and Thursday, May 27th and 28th, MDCCCLXVIII. (New York: John W. Amerman, 1868), 145.
[33] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Fifth Annual Convention, 156.
[34] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Sixth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New Jersey, Held in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 25th and 26th, MDCCCLXIX. (New York: John W. Amerman, 1869), 108.
[35] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Seventh Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New Jersey, Held in Grace Church, Newark, On Tuesday and Wednesday, May 31st and June 1st, MDCCCLXX. (New York: John W. Amerman, 1870), 123.
[36] Odenheimer lists Macedonia on his visitation list in 1873 (Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninetieth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the State of New Jersey, Held in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, On Tuesday and Wednesday, May 27th and 28th, MDCCCLXXIII [Newark: The Daily Advertiser Office, 1873], 196) and 1874 (Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninety-First Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the State of New Jersey, Held in Grace Church, Newark, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, May 26th, 27th and 28th, MDCCCLXXIV [Newark: The Daily Advertiser Office, 1874], 163).
[37] Which ended (as far as Macedonia was concerned) with the division of the diocese into northern (Newark) and southern (New Jersey) dioceses in 1874. Odenheimer continued on as Bishop of the Diocese of Newark, while Macedonia fell under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of [Southern] New Jersey.
[38] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninetieth Annual Convention, 213.
[39] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninetieth Annual Convention, 202.
[40] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninety-Third Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Diocese of New Jersey, Held in St. Michael’s Church, Trenton, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 30th and 31st, MDCCCLXXVI. (Trenton: William S. Sharp, 1876), 160.
[41] The latter was giving to national not local initiatives.
[42] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninety-Fourth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Diocese of New Jersey, Held in St. John’s Church, Elizabeth, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 29th and 30th, MDCCCLXXVII (Trenton: John L. Murphy, 1877), 130; and Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninety-Fifth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Diocese of New Jersey, Held in St. Paul’s Church, Camden, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 28th and 29th, MDCCCLXXVIII(Trenton: John L. Murphy, 1878), 71.
[43] See the respective diocesan convention journals of 1876-1887 for details.
[44] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninety-Eighth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Diocese of New Jersey, Held in St. Paul’s Church, Camden, Tuesday, May 8th, and Wednesday, May 9th, MDCCCLXXXIII (Princeton: C.S. Robinson & Co., 1883), 130. It is possible that the man mentioned as studying for orders in North Carolina is Eugene L. Henderson, who was formally approved as a candidate for Holy Orders in North Carolina ten years later, was ordained a deacon there in 1895, and became the first Black priest ordained in the Diocese of New Jersey in 1897 at St. Paul’s Camden. See also: Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, “Rev. Eugene L. Henderson: First Black Priest Ordained in the Diocese of New Jersey,” DNJRJR (February 17, 2025): https://dionj-racialjusticereview.blogspot.com/2025/02/rev-eugene-l-henderson-first-black.html.
[45] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the One Hundred and Fourteenth Convention, Being the One Hundred and First Year of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Diocese of New Jersey, Held in St. John’s Church, Camden, Tuesday, May 4th, and Wednesday, May 5th, MDCCCLXXXVI (Princeton: C.S. Robinson & Co., 1886), 59.
[46] Emphasis added. Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the One Hundred and Sixteenth Convention, Being the One Hundred and Third Year of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Diocese of New Jersey; Held in Trinity Church, Trenton, Tuesday, May 8th, and Wednesday, May 9th, MDCCCLXXXVIII (Princeton: C.S. Robinson & Co., 1888), 148.
[47] The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the One Hundred and Eighteenth Convention, Being the One Hundred and Fifth Year of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of New Jersey; Held in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, Tuesday, May 6th, and Wednesday, May 7th, 1890. Together with Appendices and the Episcopal Address (Princeton: The Princeton Press, 1890), 176.
[48] The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the One Hundred and Eighteenth Convention, 169. See also Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, “Bishop Scarborough’s Convention Address of 1890: Staking out a Place for Black Churches in the Diocese of New Jersey,” DNJRJR (January 1, 2024): https://dionj-racialjusticereview.blogspot.com/2024/01/bishop-scarboroughs-convention-address.html.
[49] The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the One Hundred and Eighteenth Convention, 168.
[50] The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the One Hundred and Eighteenth Convention, 168.
[51] See George W. Doane, Diocese of New Jersey: The Episcopal Address, to the Seventy-First Annual Convention, in Grace Church, Newark, Wednesday, May 31, 1854 (Burlington: Printed at the Gazette Office, 1854), 14. See also Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, “Bishop Doane’s 1854 Reparations Mandate,” DNJRJR (October 2, 2023): https://dionj-racialjusticereview.blogspot.com/2023/10/bishop-doanes-1854-reparations-mandate.html.
Saturday, May 17, 2025
EVENT: Journey Toward Reparation Webinar: An Indigenous Perspective, with Rev. Shaneequa Brokenleg, May 27, 2025 7-8pm
The Reparations Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey invites you to join us for our next webinar in our Journey Toward Reparation on Tuesday, May 27, 2025 from 7:00-8:00pm over Zoom. Our guest speaker is the Rev. Shaneequa Brokenleg, the Staff Officer for Racial Reconciliation of the Episcopal Church. CLICK HERE to register for the webinar.
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
NEWS: Smartphone Friendly Diocesan Slavery Pilgrimage Guide Released
Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.
Reparations Commission Research Historian
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
NESRI Database an Invaluable Resource to New Jersey Slavery Researchers
The Northeast Slavery Record Index (NESRI) is an absolutely invaluable resource for researchers of slavery in New Jersey. It is a searchable database of digitized slavery records of various kinds including "census records, slave trade transactions, cemetery records, birth certifications, manumissions, ship inventories, newspaper accounts, private narratives, legal documents and many other sources." You can search by date, place name, enslaver name, or name of the enslaved. The database is a collaborative project with many sponsors and contributors, but is hosted by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The website hosts a very helpful article by Ned Benton and Judy Lynne-Peters about "How Religious Institutions Can Study and Redress Historical Enslavement." The documentation of slavery is obviously not exhaustive, but it is an excellent starting point for churches looking to investigate the ties to slavery of former members or leaders of their congregation.
Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.
Reparations Commission Research Historian
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Bishop William H. Stokes on Racism, Slavery, and Reparations in the Church
Originally posted on August 11, 2023, the following article is being republished in the wake of the underlying documents being deleted by the Diocese of New Jersey in February of 2025. The articles can still be found (for now) through archive.org and the Reparations Commission has saved digital copies of the cited articles, but the practice of deleting important records related to racism (even accidentally) must be stopped. We have been able to save these because we were already aware of the target URLs. Many other records that have been deleted may be functionally irretrievable.
Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.
Reparations Commission Research Historian
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey
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Original article begins here:
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| Bishop Stokes (seated center-right) at the Diocesan Stations of Reparations Service, St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Freehold, New Jersey, March 25, 2023 (photo Jolyon Pruszinski) |
The Rt. Rev. William H. Stokes, recently retired Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey, made it a special emphasis of the final years of his episcopate to highlight both the historic ties of the Diocese to slavery, and present racism that requires continued redress. His influential support for the work of identifying these problems, repenting, and working to repair them has led, in part, to the creation of the current Diocesan Reparations Commission and to the Diocese of New Jersey Racial Justice Review. Below are links to many of his public communications from the concluding years of his episcopate on these topics:
March 16, 2021: “New Jersey, it’s time to tell the truth” – NJ.com
June 25, 2021: "A Call for the Establishment of a Reparations Task Force in the State of New Jersey
Opening Remarks and Invocation" published in the “Bishop’s Weekly Message – June 25, 2021”
October 1, 2021: “House of Bishops, Reparations, and Racial Justice”
February 11, 2022: “Absalom Jones and the Legacy of Black Churches”
March 11, 2022: “Strengthening Disciples for the [God’s] Future (Bishop’s Address to the Diocesan Convention, March 5, 2022”
June 17, 2022: “June 17 – The Legacy of Juneteenth”
October 7, 2022: “Honoring Indigenous People’s Day”
October 14, 2022: “Affordable Housing is a Gospel Justice Issue”
October 21, 2022: “Oct. 21 – Faith Allies and Darnella Frazier”
February 3, 2023: “Black History Month & Jemar Tisby”
February 17, 2023: “Confronting the Church’s Complicity with Racism”
March 17, 2023: “Notes on the House of Bishops Meeting”
June 16, 2023: “Juneteenth Observances”
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