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The Rt Rev. John Scarborough (1831-1914), from William Stevens Perry, The Bishops of the American Church, Past and Present (New York: The Christian Literature Co., 1897), |
In his diocesan convention address of 1890, Bishop John Scarborough discussed the place of African Americans in the ministry of the diocese. This was the first such public statement at a convention of the Diocese of New Jersey. Bishop Doane had at times mentioned St. Philip’s, Newark when it had been part of the diocese, and had spoken of the debt owed to that congregation by the rest of the diocese.[1] He had also invited support for the Episcopal mission to Liberia.[2] However, no bishop had previously mused in such a setting on the general state of ministry to Black people in the diocese, nor had any articulated a mandate or strategy for their incorporation into Episcopal life generally. This development constituted a significant step for an almost entirely White diocese, and the details of Scarborough’s statement indicate both the difficulties confronting Black Episcopal life in the diocese at that time, and the approach that would be taken in subsequent decades. He wrote:
Hitherto there has been little effort made on the part of our Church in this Diocese to reach the colored population, resident in and near its large cities. 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. For some time past the Rev. Mr. Townsend, of St. John's, Camden, has had a most prosperous mission in that city, where the colored people are very numerous. It is named after the great Bishop of Hippo, St. Augustine, and its rapid growth has been both a revelation and a surprise to me. During the past year I confirmed forty-two in that modest chapel, and I venture to say the service was as reverent and hearty as any in the Diocese. If the work continues to grow and prosper, as it bids fair to do, I can see new responsibilities in it for the city and the Diocese. Why should we leave the colored people to the care of other Christian bodies? Liturgic worship and a well-ordered ritual are just suited to their temperament. And 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 said that in the Church of Christ there should be no distinction of race or color; that all should meet together and be one in the assembly of God's people, as well as one in hope and doctrine. But those most competent to judge are agreed that a separate place of worship is best for all interests. The colored folk will not attend where they are, perhaps, not made welcome, or feel themselves to be intruders. They prefer to worship by themselves, separate and apart from their white brethren. 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. They will be quick to respond to any effort, and will gladly take the hand out-stretched.[3]
From his statement we can learn a number of things about the state of affairs regarding Black ministry in the diocese at that time.
Perhaps most obviously, he admits to the presence of racism in the diocese, suggesting that White Episcopalians do not welcome Black Christians into their churches. He states that this has resulted in broad “neglect” of African Americans in the efforts of the churches of the diocese, and that Black Christians have been “left” to the care of other denominations. He even highlights the common preference among White Episcopalians for giving what limited attention and resources can be mustered for solving race-related issues to addressing such problems elsewhere (e.g. the American South)[4] rather than in their own communities.
Scarborough mentions some of the small attempts at ministry to African Americans in the diocese, though the “feeble”[5] ministry to the inhabitants of the Black settlement at Macedonia (in Tinton Falls) and the atypical outreach by Rev. Townsend to African Americans in Camden serve to prove the case of overall neglect rather than contradict it. These efforts also show the pattern of ministry to African Americans that was developing in the diocese: rather than produce integrated congregations, the predominant model (which had already begun to develop while slavery was fully legal) was one of segregated ministry.[6]
Though acknowledging ingrained White racism in his churches, Bishop Scarborough did not openly denounce it, and his blanket assumptions about all African Americans appear to indicate that he too may have held certain prejudicial views.[7] Nevertheless, he insisted that the Episcopal Church in New Jersey no longer neglect ministry to Black Christians in the state, and he articulated what he saw to be a feasible path forward in spite of the obstacles presented by racist White congregations: increased diocesan support for dedicated Black missions, churches, and ministries. This model of segregated Black congregations would become the dominant mode of growth among Black congregants in the state through the subsequent decades.[8] Diocesan support for segregated Black Episcopal Churches also opened the door to the affirmation of ordained Black clergy in the diocese, begun through the invitation in 1903 by Bishop Scarborough to the Rev. August Jensen to minister in the segregated mission at St. Augustine’s, Asbury Park, but continued by many others thereafter.
Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.
Reparations Commission Research Historian
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey
[1] 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.
[2] George W. Doane, Episcopal Address Delivered at the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the State of New-Jersey; May 28, 1834 (Camden: Josiah Harrison, 1834), 33.
[3] 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), pp. 168-169.
[4] Priests at this time are thinking, in particular, of the debates in South Carolina and Georgia dioceses over whether to admit Black congregations with full rights. See David M. Reimers, “Negro Bishops and Diocesan Segregation in the Protestant Episcopal Church: 1870-1954,” Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church 31.3 (1962): 232.
[5] Then shuttered.
[6] This was the default model throughout much of the Episcopal Church through at least 1955. See Harold L. Lewis, “Racial Concerns in the Episcopal Church Since 1973,” Anglican and Episcopal History 67.4 (1998): 468.
[7] As perhaps indicated by his universal statements about Black people’s “temperament” or that they are “quick to respond to any effort.” This latter comment expresses a particularly untethered sentiment given the generally acknowledged aversion many Black Americans have had to the Episcopal church in light of its “failure to take any definitive action” during the Civil War or Reconstruction which “spelt disaster for its already unenthusiastic mission among Black Americans.” On this issue see, for example, Robert A. Bennet, “Black Episcopalians: A History From The Colonial Period To The Present,” Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church 43.3 (1974): 238-239.
[8] At the time of its publication in 1922, George F. Bragg’s History of the African-American Group of the Episcopal Church ([Baltimore: Church Advocate Press, 1922], 215) listed seven Black congregations in the Diocese of New Jersey ministering to 768 communicants.
