Bishop Banyard's Move to "Integrate" Was Really a Push to End Black Churches

Detail of page 199 of the 1955 Diocese of New Jersey Convention Journal

It was 1955. The aged Bishop Gardner had just passed away in late October of 1954, and his Suffragan Bishop, Alfred L. Banyard, had within three months been elevated to Bishop. Normally a key reason to ordain a suffragan, besides helping carry the workload for an aging Bishop, is to afford for smooth a transition between episcopates and prevent significant periods of disruption in governance and policy. However, when Banyard was elevated, he immediately began to make dramatic changes in diocesan governance and policy.[1] One of these changes was moving to end Black Churches in the diocese.

          At the first diocesan convention following Gardiner’s death, Banyard announced multiple changes that he had already put in place. One was that he had immediately pushed the the leadership of the Diocesan Foundation to elect the Rev. Gerald R. Minchin to the office of Archdeacon. Installing Minchin ensured that Banyard would have a totally loyal deputy who he publicly proclaimed[2] would be “aggressive” in pursuing his agenda. The operations of the Diocesan Foundation, charged with overseeing many organs of action in the diocese, including the Department of Missions, the Department of Christian Social Relations, the Department of Christian Education, the Department of Field and Publicity, and the Church News,[3] would be significantly affected by this appointment and agenda. A key aspect of Banyard’s aggressive agenda that Minchin would be involved in enacting was his racial agenda, the first step of which involved enacting a universal policy of “integration” in the diocese. In his address to the regular 1955 diocesan convention Banyard stated:

 

It is a well-known fact that great progress has been and is being made in overcoming segregation and discrimination in every phase of life throughout our country. It is a Christian truism to state that such practices toward any race in the church as well as in the secular community are contrary to the Will of God. However, the church and its members everywhere must stand firmly for the integration of all people and practice that principle of living sincerely at all times and in all places. Therefore, I have appointed a committee of which the Rev. Canon Robert D. Smith is the chairman and composed of two other clergymen and two laymen, who are Trustees of the Diocesan Foundation, to prepare a statement and resolution to be presented to this Convention. If this is adopted, I believe that it will not only strengthen our own diocesan fellowship, but will have a far-reaching effect upon the secular life in the communities where our parishes and missions are located.[4]

 

Though in theory Banyard’s statement could sound to the credulous like a racially equitable goal, in practice the policy was aimed specifically at closing Black churches. This much is suggested from the framing of the Rev. Robert Smith’s statement[5] on the matter on behalf of the Diocesan Foundation at the 1955 diocesan convention:

 

STATEMENT ON SEGREGATION IN THE CHURCH

submitted by

THE COMMITTEE ON SEGREGATION OF THE DIOCESAN FOUNDATION

with the Diocesan Department of Christian Social Relations

 

The Committee on Segregation of the Diocesan Foundation is fully cognizant of the fact that it is, and has been, the position of the Diocese, (as it is that of the Church at large), that segregation of the races in the Church as well as in the community, is contrary to the Will of God. At the same time, it notes that there are churches in the Diocese whose members are entirely Negro. In some instances, this may be due in large part to the constituency of the community in which the church is situated. On the other hand, the Committee also notes that there are Negro families in the Diocese that pass not one but several “white” churches to attend a “Negro” church and travel as far as twenty miles to do so.

The Committee believes that the ascertaining of the facts and the determination of the best way to proceed on the basis of such facts, can only be secured by close and careful study, by conference and discussion, parish by parish, in communities where white and Negro dwell and where separate white and Negro churches seem to exist. It recognizes that the problem is too delicate and complicated to be solved solely by fiat or legislative action of Convention. It recognizes that there are emotional ties and bonds of fellowship that, no matter how they might have originally arisen from segregated patterns of living in the community, cannot be summarily dealt with. However, the Committee also recognizes that the goal can be nothing less than an all-inclusive fellowship in the Church in which there are no class, color, racial or national distinctions. It therefore urges upon those churches which are situated in communities where both Negro and white dwell, and especially where there are churches attended solely by white person and churches attended solely by Negroes—creative projects of inter-racial fellowship and cooperation in the interest of removing what racial barriers might exist, and in the interest of gradual elimination of separate churches where there is no good reason for separate churches to exist.

 

Respectfully submitted, 

Robert D. Smith, Chairman

 

It is telling that what seems firstly, and most particularly, upsetting to the White authorities of the diocese, as seen from the first paragraph of Smith’s statement, is the existence of Black churches. It was, apparently, especially galling to these authorities that Black Episcopalians would choose to worship with fellow Black Episcopalians rather than at majority-white churches. Also, tellingly, Smith does not acknowledge that the Black Episcopal churches in question had been founded out of necessity as the result of white racism, instead suggesting that these Churches had simply “originally arisen from segregated patterns of living in the community,” making it appear almost accidental. This is a substantially false summary of a history which was both quite recent and well-known at the time.[6] Nor does Smith acknowledge that racism was still operative in his time, or that it might be a reason for the continued value of Black churches. Rather, he suggested that the only (and inadequate) reasons for the continued existence of Black churches were “emotional ties and bonds of fellowship,” which his argumentation suggests needed to be overcome as being against the “Will of God.”

            In his statement, Smith acknowledges that “the problem is too delicate and complicated to be solved solely by fiat or legislative action of Convention,” and by this assertion he indirectly suggests the method by which Banyard would seek to solve the “problem.” Enacting the statement as a vague official policy through convention resolution, ostensibly oriented against all segregation, Banyard and his leadership would then move quickly to pressure Black churches specifically to close, using the pre-existing authorities and processes at their disposal, rather than overt legislative actions aimed exclusively at Black churches, which might have been directly, and successfully opposed. They justified their subsequent actions in the name of integration, pointing to this theoretically equitable policy ratified at the 1955 convention. That they had no intention of closing entirely white churches is shown by Banyard’s ambitious program of church-planting in exclusively white enclaves, such as (but not limited to) Christ the King, Levittown (which Minchin was already planning, based on the precedent of other dioceses).[7] The first Black Church closed (almost immediately) under the “integration” initiative would be St. Monica’s Episcopal Church in Trenton,[8] though others would soon follow, in some cases targeted seemingly specifically for having resisted Banyard. 

 

Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.

Reparation Commission Research Historian

Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey

---

[1] Regularly referring to his predecessor in his voluminous correspondence in very negative terms both as a “liberal” and “weak.” MSS held at Diocese of New Jersey archives, Trenton, NJ.

[2] In glowing terms. Alfred L. Banyard, “Address of the Right Reverend Alfred L. Banyard to the 171^st Annual Convention of the Diocese of New Jersey,” Pages 90-100 in The Journal of the 171^st Annual Convention of the Church in the Diocese of New Jersey Held in the Synod Hall, Trinity Cathedral, Trenton, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 3^rd and 4^th, 1955, 98.

[3] Alfred L Banyard, “Address of the Right Reverend Alfred L. Banyard to the 171^st Annual Convention,” 93.

[4] Alfred L Banyard, “Address of the Right Reverend Alfred L. Banyard to the 171^st Annual Convention,” 96.

[5] Robert D. Smith, “Statement on Segregation in the Church,” in The Journal of the 171^st Annual Convention of the Church in the Diocese of New Jersey Held in the Synod Hall, Trinity Cathedral, Trenton, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 3^rd and 4^th, 1955; 199.

[6] Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Anglican Slavery in New Jersey: An Initial Accounting (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2025), 70-73. 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. 

[7] A planned all-white development that Banyard was, knowingly, especially keen to plant a church in. Minchin announced this the following year, though the planning had already been underway: Gerald R. Minchin, “Presentation of Mission Program to the Diocesan Convention,” in The Journal of the 172^nd Annual Convention of the Church in the Diocese of New Jersey Held in the Crypt of Trinity Cathedral, Trenton, Tuesday and Wednesday May 8^th and 9^th, 1956; 146: “The new Levittown, New Jersey, to be developed between Highway 130 and the New Jersey Turnpike just east of Beverly, is now in the grading and plotting stage. Homes are to be erected and placed on sale in 1957. A total of 20,000 are planned. Land will be allocated for churches and I have already made such a request. The church structure must have a value of $100,000. Levitt and Sons, the developers, are kindly disposed toward our Church because of their previous experience in the Diocese of Long Island and Pennsylvania. I am sure that we will be allocated a fine strategic piece of property.

[8] Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, “Christ the King, Levittown: An Example of the ‘White Flight’ Mission,” DNJRJR (October 8, 2024): https://dionj-racialjusticereview.blogspot.com/2024/10/christ-king-levittown-example-of-white.html.

VIDEO: "Truth, Reconciliation and Repair Act" NJISJ Press Conference, June 18, 2026

On Thursday June 18th the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ) hosted a press conference on the recently introduced "Truth, Reconciliation and Repair Act." Introduced as NJ S4459 in the Senate (A5253 in the Assembly), NJISJ reports that the bill commits New Jersey to "apologizing for slavery... accepting responsibility, and... committing to teaching the truth about slavery and Black History in our public schools and beyond." At the press conference (video here) sponsors Senator Angela McKnight and Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson explain the purpose and content of the bill. Other New Jersey leaders at the press conference calling for passage of the bill included Larry Ham (People's Organization fr Progress), Mayor Ras Baraka (Newark), Jean-Pierre Brutus (NJISJ), Henal Patel (NJISJ), Rev. Charles Boyer (Salvation and Social Justice, Greater Mt. Zion AME Church Trenton), and Cn. Annette Buchanan (NJ Faith Allies, Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey). If you would like to support the bill's passage NJISJ is gathering signatures.

New Article in AEH: "Despite the Declaration: White Episcopal Support for Slavery and Black Episcopal Resistance in Early Republic New Jersey"

Anglican and Episcopal History (AEH) Journal has just published a special issue on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States. Research from the Diocese of New Jersey Racial Justice Review appears in the issue in an article from Jolyon Pruszinski entitled "Despite the Declaration: White Episcopal Support for Slavery and Black Episcopal Resistance in Early Republic New Jersey." This is the introduction:

During the Revolutionary War, Anglicans in New Jersey were split on whether to remain loyal to the Crown, but after the war, both white and Black Episcopalians generally embraced the language of the Declaration of Independence with patriotic zeal. Where they split was over whether “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” should be the deserved possessions of “all men” or if the “all men” who were “created equal” were in fact “white” men only. Prominent Black Episcopalians, like Peter Williams, and John N. Still, treasured the language of liberty and equality in the Declaration as an inheritance of all Americans, and saw in it a vision of a just society in which slavery and racial discrimination had no place. However, white Episcopalians, in spite of their public acclamation of the Declaration, even in “northern” New Jersey typically chose to support slavery, buttress its effectiveness, and benefit from its operation. Black Episcopalians resisted white Episcopal support for slavery, and used both the Declaration and the Bible to denounce the institution as unjust. There is a long-standing precedent among Episcopal historians of emphasizing the noble behaviors of a few white Episcopalians while systematically de-emphasizing the overwhelmingly common and negative behaviors of the many. This article is oriented in opposition to that precedent.

For full article access is available through the AEH website with a (free for one year) membership in the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church (HSEC) or through JSTOR.ORG. 

EVENT: Virtual Press Conference Introducing the New Jersey "Truth, Reconciliation and Repair Act," 5pm June 18, 2026

Passing along BIG NEWS from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ)! 

This Thursday, 6/18 they will be hosting a Virtual Press Conference to introduce the Truth, Reconciliation & Repair Act. 

This legislation will:

✅ ensure New Jersey apologizes for slavery and accepts responsibility

✅ teach the Truth about slavery and Black history in our public schools

New Jersey must teach, confront and take responsibility for our past so we can finally repair the lasting harm slavery and generations of systemic racism that followed. The Truth, Reconciliation and Repair Act is a big step toward getting us there!

Join the virtual press conference at 5 p.m. EST & be part of the journey towards reparations in New Jersey.

🔗Register: bit.ly/TRRACT

(And the press conference will feature statements from many important leaders in New Jersey, including Cn. Annette Buchanan of the Diocese of New Jersey Reparations Commission!)

EVENT: Truth & Repair: A Juneteenth Reparations Convening (Sponsored by NJISJ)

This Friday, 6/19/26 from 8:30am - 4:15pm (Juneteenth) the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ) invites you to "Truth & Repair: A Juneteenth Reparations Convening" at St. John's Community Baptist Church in Newark (1066 Bergen St, Newark, NJ 07112).

Don’t miss out on this inspiring day of thought-provoking panel discussions and interactive workshops exploring how reparative policies can help build a more equitable future!

🚌Free shuttle service is available from Newark Penn Station.

🔗Register: https://njisj.org/juneteenth/

See below for the full program!

EVENT: Juneteenth Observance at St. Peter's, Perth Amboy, 6:30pm June 18, 2026

Community Event | Evento Comunitario

St. Peter's Episcopal Church invites residents to attend a Juneteenth Requiem Mass on Thursday, June 18 at 6:30 PM.

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States and honors the resilience, contributions, and history of Black Americans.

The evening will feature guest speaker Dr. Jolyon G.R. Pruszinski, Princeton professor and author of Anglican Slavery in New Jersey: An Initial Accounting, along with music by Simon Mulligan, Jackie Mulligan, and St. Peter's Choir.

📍 St. Peter's Episcopal Church

188 Rector Street, Perth Amboy

All are welcome to attend this community observance.

For more information, visit: www.StPetersEpiscopal.com

*************************

La Iglesia Episcopal St. Peter's invita a la comunidad a participar en una Misa Réquiem de Juneteenth el 18 de junio a las 6:30 p.m.

Juneteenth conmemora el fin de la esclavitud en los Estados Unidos y rinde homenaje a la historia, los logros y las contribuciones de las comunidades afroamericanas.

La ceremonia contará con la participación especial del Dr. Jolyon G.R. Pruszinski, profesor de la Universidad de Princeton y autor de Anglican Slavery in New Jersey: An Initial Accounting, así como con música de Simon y Jackie Mulligan y el Coro de St. Peter's.

📍 Iglesia Episcopal St. Peter's

188 Rector Street, Perth Amboy

Toda la comunidad está invitada a participar.

Para más información, visite: www.StPetersEpiscopal.com

The Cost of a Century of Racism to Historically Black Churches in the Diocese of New Jersey: Approximately $100 Million

Charting the New Jersey racial wealth gap in the NJISJ Study.

We have written previously about the persistent racial wealth gap in New Jersey between White households and Black households (a gap which remains at a discrepancy of approximately 20:1) and the effect this gap has on historically Black churches in the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey. But if discussions of adequate reparations are going to be well informed, this phenomenon requires more explicit explanation. The short version is that White Episcopal racism in the Diocese of New Jersey has cost the Black Episcopalians of the historically Black churches (HBCs) of the diocese, at a minimum, an estimated $100 million over the past century. 

In most discussions of the financial harm done and the scale of reparations required, it does not appear that the true scope of this harm is fully understood, even among members of the HBCs. This means that harm is regularly underreported and under appreciated, both in and beyond the affected HBCs, and that deliberations regarding funding reparative justice initiatives are likely to produce inappropriately low targets for funding (such as the current deliberations of the recently formed board for the diocesan reparative justice trust). Allow me to explain the details.

There is a well-documented history of highly generous, self-sacrificial giving in Black church communities. The rate of giving relative to income is, generally speaking, far higher than in the White churches of our diocese. Unfortunately, this is a virtue born of harm. Because of the racial wealth gap, Black Episcopalians have had to devote a dramatically higher percentage of their wealth and income to church giving in order to have functioning Black churches than White people have had to devote to church giving in order to have functioning White churches.

The fact is that the HBCs in our diocese exist because of White racism. They were founded because of well-known, and well-documented White racism. They have continued to provide a space for the (comparatively) free exercise of faith and leadership for Black Episcopalians in our diocese that is necessary due to the persistence of White racism. 

It is also a fact that churches cost a certain amount to run. For the sake of simplicity, let's say the bare bones number in 2026 dollars to run a congregation per year is $100,000. Anyone who is familiar with church budgets will know that this is stretching what is possible with a full-time rector, but we will assume $100k for the sake of argument. Now let's say, again for the sake of simplicity, that we are just looking at a 100-year period, mostly in the 20th century, during which HBCs have operated. And, again, for the sake of simplicity, let us assume that there have been, on average, about ten HBCs operating at any given time in the diocese during that period. Some HBCs have operated longer than that. There have been periods with more HBCs than ten, but for the sake of simplicity of calculation we will keep the numbers low and round. We are looking at 10 HBCs over 100 years at $100,000 dollars a year for a minimum cost to operate of $100 million in 2026 dollars. Let us acknowledge, again, that this is a low estimate.

Now consider that the racial wealth gap in New Jersey is currently 20:1. It used to be significantly worse, but for the sake of simplicity let's say that during that whole period it has been 20:1. HBCs have had to exist because of White Episcopal racism, and have only managed to exist because of the sacrificial giving of Black Episcopalians. The result of this fact is that in order to function, Black Episcopalians have had to be generous with respect to their household wealth at approximately a 20:1 rate compared to White Episcopalians in order to have functioning churches. Black Episcopalians have had to give at an enormously higher rate than White Episcopalians have, just to make sure to have church communities of their own that are less subject to White racism than they would be subjected to at "integrated" churches (and in further evidence of this racism, the diocese has regularly attempted to liquidate Black churches and force integration, even while knowing this will subject Black Episcopalians to greater racism).

Fairness would suggest that because White racism has necessitated the existence of HBCs, and because the cost to run a church is what it is irrespective of race, and because Black Episcopalians have had to pay that cost to ensure the functioning of their HBCs, that Black Episcopalian household wealth has taken close to a $100 million hit over the past 100 years due exclusively to white Episcopal racism. Almost the entire amount required to run functioning HBCs over the past century has come from Black giving at a dramatically higher percentage of income and wealth than the rate required among White parishioners of White Churches (in a reversal of the same ratio as the wealth gap). If White racism did not require the existence of HBCs, Black Episcopalians could be free to give at the same wealth-rate as White people to maintain jointly attended churches. But White Episcopal racism operating in tandem with the New Jersey racial wealth gap (a separate product of White racism) has essentially robbed individual Black Episcopalians of an estimated $95 million out of an approximate $100 million cost to operate over the past century (and don't forget, this is already a very conservative estimate). And this does not address reparative justice for slavery or other kinds of racism, either to Black Episcopalians or to Black New Jerseyans generally. We are just talking about the direct financial effect of White racism on Black Episcopal household wealth due to the necessity of having HBCs in the Diocese of New Jersey.

The scale and scope of this harm is not generally appreciated. Yes, in recent history, the diocese has dedicated some money to HBCs, but it has been entirely of the wrong order of magnitude and has not meaningfully addressed the underlying harmful patterns. Meaningfully addressing the pattern of harm would mean stopping the yearly drain on Black wealth that comes from the persistence of White racism. For many reasons (but among them the fact that White racism is still clearly operative) HBCs are a necessary feature of our diocesan life. This is not debatable. But stopping the constant drain on Black wealth that occurs as a result of primarily parish-level funding requires de-siloing funding. According to the simplified calculations used here, it would require approximately $1 million a year to stabilize HBC finances in the diocese. In terms of future orientation, this figure should be viewed as the bare-minimum, no-strings, yearly disbursement to HBCs from the diocese as part of any reparative justice measure which aims to address adequately the underlying systemic inequity. 

This kind of coverage of 95% of baseline operating costs of HBCs by the White churches in the diocese should occur until there is meaningful change to the racial wealth gap in New Jersey. But it should NOT be viewed as a step which would preclude a larger separate disbursement addressing these and other past harms. This proposed measure is just to stop the bleeding. Other measures should address the accumulated negative effects of other past harms.

Yes, this is a lot of money. But consider that it is an amount of money that Black Episcopalians have been unfairly required to pay for over 100 years just to avoid White racism. It is past time that the White Episcopalians of the Diocese of New Jersey recognize that their wealth is the product of slavery and racism, that it has been accumulated at the expense of Black New Jerseyans, that White Episcopal racism specifically has had a dramatic negative effect on Black Episcopal wealth in the Diocese of New Jersey, and that, as a result, a very great debt is owed.

Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.
Reparations Commission Research Historian
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey