Following the wide circulation of the Black Caucus response[1] to the Steinke Report[2] on Bishop Doss’ behavior during his episcopate, which included both accusations of racism and a recommitment to acting in love toward diocesan leadership accused of racism, the Caucus reported receiving a high volume of correspondence. On July 9, 1997 the Caucus wrote publicly to “Friends” regarding this correspondence and included in their letter a facsimile of a letter they had received from the Rev. Dean Henry of Christ Church, Middletown (sent on June 25, 1997), along with the response they had sent to him on July 2, 1997. It is likely that both the letter of July 9 and that of July 2 were authored by the Rev. Cn. Dr. Leroy Lyons of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Plainfield, New Jersey.
No doubt the letter from the Rev. Henry is included because it provides an example of an embarrassingly poor response from a white priest supportive of Doss, and critical of the Black Caucus. Henry’s letter is short, and ostensibly polite, but clearly alleges that the Black Caucus includes many of those “who are not truly repentant” and who “frustrate the work of the Holy Spirit.” Henry also suggests that the members of the Black Caucus need to exhibit less “willfulness.” Incredibly, though praising the exegesis exhibited in the Black Caucus response to the Steinke Report, he shows such a lack of familiarity with the letter to Philemon that he misspells Onesimus’ name several times. The glaring issues with his missive do not go unanswered.
Writing for the Black Caucus, Lyons similarly strikes an ostensibly polite tone, but highlights Henry’s apparent lack of familiarity with the biblical text,[3] and disputes both Henry’s argument and his allegations of sinfulness. Lyons returns to Philemon to correct Henry and to insist that neither Onesimus nor the Black Caucus acted sinfully, or “rebelliously.” Lyons insists both on the commitment to agapē that the Black Caucus maintains, and the onus of responsibility on Bishop Doss to exhibit this quality himself.
The correspondence indicates both the degree of unexamined racism that existed in white priests in the diocese at the time, the readiness with which such priests supported a racist bishop and criticized those attempting to hold him accountable, and the lengths to which the Black Caucus went to try to educate their white Episcopalian colleagues. The correspondence[4] is provided in full below, courtesy of the Rev. Cn. Dr. Leroy Lyons.
Reparations Commission Research Historian
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey
[1] See “A Response to the Steinke Report From the Black Caucus, The Diocese of New Jersey,” June 14, 1997. MSS held at the private archive of the Rev. Cn. Dr. Leroy Lyons, Plainfield, New Jersey. See also Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, “The Black Caucus Responds to the Steinke Report on Shortcomings of Doss’ Episcopal, June 14, 1997,” DNJRJR (August 2, 2026): https://dionj-racialjusticereview.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-black-caucus-responds-to-steinke.html.
[2] A report from an outside consultant who investigated allegations of problematic behavior on the part of Bishop Doss, delivered to the diocese on May 16, 1997. See David M. Herszenhorn, “An Embattled Episcopal Bishop; His Ouster Is Sought by Leaders of the New Jersey Diocese,” New York Times (December 7, 1997): Section 1, page 45. See also Pruszinski, “The Black Caucus Responds to the Steinke Report on Shortcomings of Doss’ Episcopal, June 14, 1997.”
[3] A text on which Lyons wrote his doctoral dissertation.
[4] It includes a Letter from “The members of the Black Caucus” to “Friends,” July 9, `1997, which
appends the following letters: Letter from The Rev. Dean Henry to The Black Caucus, June 25, 1997; and Letter from “Members of the Black Caucus” to The Rev. Dean Henry, July 2, 1997. MSS held at the private archive of the Rev. Cn. Dr. Leroy Lyons, Plainfield, New Jersey.
