Before the Civil War there were few outlets for formally recognized Black leadership in the Diocese of New Jersey. James C. Ward, an ordained deacon and schoolteacher who temporarily transferred his canonical residency from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, and, as such, was the first ordained Black man in the diocese in 1830, quickly moved to Maryland as he found a more hospitable teaching appointment there.[1] It was not for decades after the civil war before another Black man was approved for ordained ministry in the diocese.[2] There were at times, however, modest, but formally recognized outlets for Black men to exercise church leadership.
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| An excerpt of the diocesan convention proceedings journal of 1865, showing licensed lay readers (appearing as a subsection of the list of clergy) including Elias Kay [sic] and Daniel Landin. |
One occasion for this diocesan affirmation of Black leadership came after the founding of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Newark, an “African” parish formed mostly by former attendees of Trinity Church, Newark.[3] Though the first several priests of the congregation were White, and the diocesan treatment of the parish was paternalistic,[4] the lay leadership was, of course, Black and the first leader to be formally licensed as a “reader” for the congregation was Elias Ray.[5] He was a frequent diocesan convention representative of St. Philip’s, starting as early as 1858,[6] and was licensed as a “lay reader” on September 10, 1864.[7] A “lay reader” leads the liturgy in the absence of a priest, though does not consecrate the eucharist. This was viewed as an important role at the diocesan level, to the point that the diocesan convention journals of the time list licensed lay readers alongside active priests and deacons, but not wardens or vestry members. Jacob Rhodes was also licensed to serve at St. Philip’s under Rev. Dr. Rees on July 22, 1867 and served in that capacity for a couple of years.[8] Various other Black men and women have led St. Philip’s as wardens, vestrymen, and diocesan convention representatives (among other capacities) from the earliest time of its formation[9] in 1848 to the present day.
Another Black leader in the diocese at this time was Daniel B. Landin. He was actually the first licensed lay reader in the diocese, being licensed for service (slightly before Elias Ray, in April 19, 1863) in the mission at the African-American settlement known as “Macedonia” (in Tinton Falls) which was sponsored by Christ Church, Shrewsbury.[10] He was the teacher for the “colored” school, also sponsored by Christ Church, that counted many pupils among the residents of “Macedonia.”[10]
The last time Daniel Landin and Elias Ray are listed as “lay leaders” in the diocesan records is 1874. By the time of the diocesan convention of 1875 (post-split) Landin was apparently no longer holding this office, and Elias Ray, along with St. Philip’s, was now part of the diocese of Newark. It seems likely there was some significant shakeup at the Macedonia mission when the diocese split. There was a new rector at Christ Church, and soon after the responsibility for the Macedonia mission was passed to St. James Memorial Church, Eatontown. The mission seems to have shrunk after Daniel Landin stopped serving as lay reader (and teacher). By 1883 the mission had only four families involved (though one had a son studying out-of-state for the priesthood),[12] and soon after that, folded.[13]
St. Philips would not have a Black clergyman for decades yet, and no Black man would be allowed to serve in a sustained ordained ministry in the diocese of New Jersey until August Jensen was invited by Bishop Scarborough beginning in 1903 at Asbury Park.[14]
Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.
Reparations Commission Research Historian
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey
[1] Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, “Rev. James C. Ward (1777-1834), the first African American clergyman in the Diocese of New Jersey,” Diocese of New Jersey Racial Justice Review (October 9, 2023): https://dionj-racialjusticereview.blogspot.com/2023/10/rev-james-c-ward-1777-1834-first.html, last accessed 12/1/23.
[2] It is true that Bishop Doane (of New Jersey) worked to support the seminary admission and ordination of Alexander Crummell, but that process took place largely outside of New Jersey and involved Doane due to his role on the board of trustees of General Seminary in New York City. See Craig Steven Wilder, “‘Driven… from the School of the Prophets’: The Colonizationist Ascendance at General Theological Seminary,” New York History 93.4 (2012): 157-85.
[3] Anne Calloway and Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski (ed.), “A History of Trinity and St. Philip’s Cathedral: Slavery, Racism, and Renewal in ‘God’s House,’” Diocese of New Jersey Racial Justice Review (September 25, 2023): https://dionj-racialjusticereview.blogspot.com/2023/09/a-history-of-trinity-and-st-philips.html, last accessed 12/1/23.
[4] See, e.g., The Rt. Rev. George Washington Doane, D.D., LL.D., Diocese of New Jersey: The Episcopal Address, to the Seventy-Third Annual Convention, in Trinity Church, Newark, Wednesday, May 28, 1856 (Burlington: Samuel C. Atkinson, 1856), 17: “It was [a] matter of great joy to me to meet these simple-minded, earnest, people…[they] have my warmest sympathies.”
[5] Listed in some records as “Elias Kay.”
[6] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of Proceedings of the Seventy-Fifth Annual Convention in Trinity Church, Newark, on Wednesday, 26 May, 1858 (Burlington: Franklin Ferguson, Printer, Broad Street, 1858), 11.
[7] 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 1865 (Philadelphia: J. B. Chandler, 1865), 154.
[8] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Eighty-Fifth Annual Convention. 1868. (New York: John W. Amerman, 1868), 171.
[9] Among these early lay leaders were Elias Ray, Nicholas Duffin, Samuel Thompkins, John and Peter O’Fake, Elias and George Mitchell, and Jacob Rhodes. See Calloway and Pruszinski, “A History of Trinity and St. Philip’s Cathedral.” See also Diocese of New Jersey Convention Journals from 1848 to 1874.
[10] 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 1864 (Philadelphia: J.B. Chandler, 1864), 73.
[11] Ibid., 133.
[12] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the One Hundred and Eleventh Convention, Being the Ninety-Eighth Year 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, 1883 (Princeton: C.S. Robinson & Co., 1883), 131.
[13] That’s how Bishop Scarborough describes its state (defunct) in 1890: The Right Reverend John Scarborough, D.D., “The Episcopal Address to the One Hundred and Sixth Annual Convention in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, May 6, 1890,” in 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 (Princeton: The Princeton Press, 1890), 155-173, here 168.
[14] At least, as far as our research has yet found. George F. Bragg, History of the African-American Group of the Episcopal Church (Baltimore: Church Advocate Press, 1922), 177.
