Land of the Lenni Lenape and European Exploration and Colonization
Northern New Jersey has been settled since ancient times, in early days by the Lenni Lenape people (called the Delaware people by Europeans). In the late 16th century Italian explorers were the first to map the area. Dutch and Swedes settled in the early 1600s. English arrived in great numbers and with military superiority in the 1660s and swept through the area with little recognition of native peoples or prior settlers. Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret re-named the area “New Jersey” after the island in the English Channel that was Carteret’s home. New Jersey was governed as two distinct provinces, West Jersey and East Jersey, from 1674 until 1702 when it was united under a royal governor.
Anglicanism Emerges in New Jersey
By 1685 the first Anglican services in New Jersey were held, and by 1698 the first church building was erected. In 1700 one writer estimated only 12 Anglicans in the whole of the province of East Jersey but said sympathizers were probably numbered in the hundreds.
Missionary work by the Church of England was first organized in the colony of New Jersey under the High Church Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) at the beginning of the 18th century. When the missionaries arrived, they found more than 40 religious groups in a population of 20,000. All Anglican parishes in North America were under the Bishop of London.
Crown Charters in New Jersey
An Anglican congregation existed in Newark as early as 1729 and work was begun on Trinity Church in 1742. Two other present parishes in the Diocese of Newark were established by royal charter; Christ Church, Belleville (Second River), in 1746 and Christ Church, Newton, in 1774.
Without the persistent efforts of early missionaries, Anglicanism would not have gotten a foothold. John Talbot, “the Apostle of New Jersey,” George Keith, and Alexander Innes were highly influential. Thomas Bradbury Chandler is strongly linked to the organization of the Church in New Jersey and to the later formation of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. By the middle of the 18th century the Church was gaining strength.
Revolution
The coming of the American Revolution brought the Anglican Church into hard times because of its identification with the royal government. The clergy had sworn to be loyal to the Crown, recited prayers for the royal family, and were dependent on the SPG. Many were assaulted, lost their property, and were imprisoned. Most of them left for England or Canada, or the safer setting of New York City. All but one parish in New Jersey was closed down completely.
More than 100 Revolutionary War battles occurred in New Jersey between 1776 and 1783. Of the 11 Church of England clergy who were in New Jersey prior to the war, four remained after British forces withdrew. The Church with its 20 ailing congregations was considered to be “baggage left behind by the British;” “a very sick and feeble fellowship,” according to historians. In the period 1776-1785 it struggled for survival.
Isolated from the Church of England without a bishop, the American Church could not maintain apostolic continuity and establish itself as an independent Church.
Bishops for the Episcopal Church
Eventually the Rev. Samuel Seabury, the Rev. Samuel Provoost and the Rev. William White were ordained bishops in Scotland and England for the fledging U.S. Church.
A Convention of Episcopalians in the new State of New Jersey was organized in 1785. Various factors led to there being both Low Church and High Church influences early in the life of the Diocese of New Jersey.
New Jersey’s First Bishop
New Jersey did not have a bishop until the election and consecration of John Croes in 1815, when there were nine priests struggling to serve 27 congregations.
Bishop Croes could offer patriotic credentials, having served in the Continental Army during the war. He put forth a definitive plan for missionary operations and helped found the General Theological Seminary (GTS), the General Missionary Society, and the Episcopal Sunday School Union. Bishop Croes was considered by his clergy to be solid, reliable, and conscientious. He served 17 years as Bishop, until his death in 1832.
The Church Grows
Croes was succeeded by George Washington Doane in 1832 and by the end of his 27 years as Bishop, the Diocese had almost 100 clergy serving 85 parishes. Bishop Doane was a handsome man with a magnetic personality, resonant voice, and abundant social gifts. He was a strong supporter of the missionary movement and the development of Episcopal schools. He was a leader of the High Church party. In 1839 Bishop Doane voted to admit Alexander Crummell, an African-American, to General Theological Seminary; the only bishop on the GTS board to do so. One of Bishop Doane’s hymns is in the Hymnal 1982 (#457, “Thou art the Way, to thee alone”).
The Diocese of Northern New Jersey
The next Bishop of New Jersey, William Henry Odenheimer, felt compelled to divide the growing Diocese, and established the Diocese of Northern New Jersey in 1874 with himself as Bishop. Sixty-two clergy and 64 parishes formed this new diocese comprising the seven northern counties, with the north/south line drawn along the Morris and Essex line of the Lackawanna Railroad (the reason for the inclusion of only Summit in Union County within the new Diocese).
The Bishop carried on the work of the Diocese with marked ability, combining scholarship with unusual administrative practice. A man of gentle disposition, his sermons and addresses to the Convention were noted by many for their forthrightness.
An early hallmark of his time in Newark was the establishment of Christ Hospital in Jersey City in 1874. In 1875, Newark was chosen as the official residence of the Bishop. In his address to the Convention of 1877, Odenheimer recognized the importance of the proximity of the Diocese to the metropolis of trade and influence, New York City.
Buried at St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, his tomb reads: “Rest awhile.” He had confirmed nearly 20,000 people during the 20 year span of his episcopate.
The Diocese of Newark
Thomas A. Starkey was elected to succeed Odenheimer. He served as Bishop of the Diocese for 23 years (1880-1903). In 1886 the Diocese changed its name to Diocese of Newark. The two convocations, Jersey City and Newark, were the primary administrative units of the Diocese, with major emphasis on missionary activities. Bishop Starkey moved the episcopal residence to East Orange in 1885. He recognized many shades of theological diversity in the Diocese but found them far from affecting the vital doctrines of the catholic faith. To him, the Church was both catholic and evangelical.
The episcopacy of Bishop Starkey covered the great wave of immigration from southern and eastern Europe, an event that drastically changed the demographics of the Diocese even though it did not immediately change the composition of the parishes. His tenure was a period of growth both in the number of parishes and the number of clergy. In 1881 there were 81 parishes and missions served by 73 clergy. By 1903, there were 108 parishes and missions served by 102 clergy.
“Beautiful Tolerance”: Bishop Lines and A Call to Social Justice in 1904
With the death of Bishop Starkey in May, 1903, Edwin Stevens Lines was elected as the Third Bishop of Newark and consecrated on November 18, 1903. As Bishop for 24 years, he was active in the national Church and served as president of the Board of Trustees of General Seminary.
His episcopacy was marked by a great interest in foreign missions, religious education, and social service and a “beautiful tolerance for the beliefs of others.” His view of the Church was expressed in his first address to the Convention in 1904, when he stated that “the influences that make for largeness and diversity must be balanced by the influences that make for unity.
Lines championed the construction of a Diocesan House in Newark and the relocation of the episcopal residence from East Orange to Newark, which was accomplished by 1905. He also advocated the establishment of a Diocesan newspaper as a vehicle of communication, and recommended the formation of a Sunday School Commission.
Growth through the Great Depression
Wilson Reiff Stearly served under Bishop Lines from 1915, first as Suffragan and then as Coadjutor and became Bishop Ordinary in 1927 upon the death of Bishop Lines. It fell to him to guide the Diocese through the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing years of the Great Depression. Land for future building was sacrificed and the diocesan budget was cut in half. Still, in 1931 the Diocese had grown to have 177 clergy, 158 parishes and missions, 340 church buildings, and 54,000 communicants. By this time, the administrative structure of the Diocese had changed from the two convocations, Newark and Jersey City, to four archdeaconries; Newark, Paterson, Jersey City, and Morristown.
A special Convention was called in March, 1932 for the election of a Bishop Coadjutor but there was no resultant election. With a renewed call, Benjamin M. Washburn was elected Coadjutor later that year.
World War II, Growth of the Suburbs and the New Concepts of Urban Ministry
Benjamin Martin Washburn served as Bishop of Newark from 1935 to 1958, a total of 23 years. His episcopacy encompassed World War II and the years of post-war religious fervor. Through most of this period of time, he was assisted by Theodore Ludlow, Bishop Suffragan for 17 years from 1936 to 1953. One of Washburn’s lasting legacies was the moral and financial support he provided three young graduates from the General Theological Seminary to establish a pilot parish program for urban ministry at Grace Church Van Vorst in Jersey City. This was the career start for Bishop Paul Moore (New York) and Bishop C. Kilmer Myers (California).
Bishop Washburn had a long association with the Church Pension Fund, serving as vice-president from 1941 to 1952 and then as president from 1952 onward. He also served as president of the Board of Trustees of General Seminary.
The ‘60s: Newark Riots, Vietnam, Supporting Women’s Ordination
Leland Stark became the Sixth Bishop of Newark in 1958 after serving five years as Coadjutor; in total, he would serve the Diocese for 20 years as a bishop. From 1958 to 1963, he was assisted by the Rt. Rev. Donald MacAdie who had been elected as Suffragan. The death of Bishop MacAdie in 1963 after a five year episcopate brought about the election of a new Bishop Suffragan, George E. Rath, who was destined to become the Seventh Bishop of the Diocese. The episcopacy of Bishop Stark covered a period of rapid suburban expansion, the Vietnam War, and urban riots.
In 1966, Bishop Stark oversaw the merger of Trinity Cathedral and St. Philip’s Church, bringing together a moribund white congregation and a vibrant black congregation.
July of 1967 brought urban rioting to Newark, a traumatic experience for the region and the Diocese. The Cathedral was at the forefront of social change when it sponsored the first national conference on black empowerment: “Inner City Urban Leadership Conference.” In 1969, the Rev. Canon Dillard Robinson became Dean of Trinity Cathedral, the first African-American to serve as Dean of any Episcopal Cathedral in the United States.
The Bishop James Pike controversy came to a head in 1969 when a motion was presented to the House of Bishops to censure the provocative Fifth Bishop of California for his iconoclastic views. While the House of Bishops called his views “offensive” and “irresponsible,” Bishop Stark voted against the motion on the grounds that a bishop should be free to express his own opinions and convictions.
Bishop Stark was also active in the peace movement during the Vietnam conflict, serving as one of the co-chairmen of “Negotiation Now” and visiting Saigon in June of 1971.
Bishop Stark and Bishop Rath were both early supporters of the ordination of women. The Diocesan Convention passed a resolution of support in 1970 and held back an effort to rescind it in 1971.
Strong Stands for the New Prayer Book and Ordaining Women
George Edward Rath had already served the Diocese as Bishop Suffragan for six years and Bishop Coadjutor for another four years before becoming Diocesan in 1974. His tenure as Bishop of Newark was five years, a total of 15 years of service as a bishop in the Diocese of Newark. Still, referring to his five years as Ordinary (the shortest in the history of the Diocese), some people described him as an interim bishop.
Bishop Rath took strong stands in favor of the ordination of women and the adoption of the 1979 revision of the Book of Common Prayer. Two of the “Philadelphia 11” ordained in 1974, the Rev. Nancy Wittig and the Rev. Katrina Swanson, would became priests of the Diocese of Newark. Many other ordained women came to the Diocese of Newark soon after General Convention’s approval of women’s ordination and the Diocese soon had one of the highest percentages of women clergy in the Episcopal Church. The Rev. Abigail Hamilton, one of the first three women ordained in the Diocese, continues to serve here.
The Rt. Rev. Kenneth Daniel Wilson Anand was Bishop Rath’s Assistant Bishop for two years from 1974 to 1976. He is commemorated by the Diocese through the Bishop Anand Resource Center, a multi-media facility in Episcopal House providing Christian education resources. The death of Bishop Anand in 1976 prompted a call for the election of a Bishop Coadjutor.
After his retirement as Bishop of Newark, Bishop Rath was appointed Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts, an office he held for 12 years, from 1982 to 1994.
The Most Controversial Bishop
John Shelby Spong was consecrated Bishop Coadjutor of Newark in 1976. He served in that capacity until 1979 when he succeeded Bishop Rath as Diocesan Bishop. His service in the Diocese of Newark as a bishop spanned 24 years, through his retirement in 2000.
Bishop Spong has been described as an old-fashioned, Bible-centered, scholarly, Low Church evangelical with a social conscience. In his last address to the Diocesan Convention in 1999, Bishop Spong admitted that he would probably never escape the designation “controversial.” His concept of the role of a bishop was that of a servant ministry rather than as a crowned prince of the Church. Bishop Spong considered it the role of a diocese to set a vision for its congregations, to pose issues with which people had to grapple, and to equip its people for life by raising their consciousness.
When he assumed the episcopate, Bishop Spong was already known as an advocate for unpopular causes, having tangled with the Ku Klux Klan over school desegregation in the 1950s and supported the civil rights movement of the 1960s. In the 1970s he advocated the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopacy. Later in that decade he became involved in what remains his most controversial stance, the ordination of well-qualified, monogamously-partnered gay or lesbian aspirants. In 1989, Bishop Spong ordained an openly gay man, Robert Williams, an act that resulted in a 1990 vote of disassociation by the House of Bishops. That event was a prelude to a heresy trial of Bishop Walter C. Righter, who, as Assistant Bishop of Newark, ordained the Rev. Barry Stopfel to the diaconate in 1990.
Bishop Spong’s growing reputation as a teacher and author led to international tours, numerous television and radio interviews and equally numerous critiques and criticisms from conservative clergy and laity of all faiths. His nearly 20 books and numerous articles covered diverse and controversial topics such as assisted suicide, life after death, non-traditional relationships, and the mythology of the Gospels.
Bishop Spong annually awarded one congregation in the Diocese the Bishop’s Banner at Diocesan Convention, proclaiming it “Church of the Year.” Similarly, he presented the Bishop’s Canterbury Scholar Award to designate the “Priest of the Year.” Lay persons were awarded the Bishop’s Cross or a Certificate of Merit.
In reviewing his episcopacy, Bishop Spong cited two major capital funds campaigns: ACTS/VIM (A Commitment to Serve/Venture in Mission), which was a multi-million dollar success to finance programs throughout the Diocese, and the Ward J. Herbert Fund to assist congregations in building repair and expansion. Another campaign was directed at the reduction of debt on Episcopal House.
For eight years, from 1991 to 1999, Jack Marston McKelvey served as Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese. As a bishop, McKelvey was particularly active in the Department of Missions, the Mission to Dismantle Racism, and Camp Beisler/Eagle’s Nest. He was honored, along with Linda his wife, by a chapel named for them at Cross Roads Outdoor Ministry center, a merger of Camp Beisler and Eagle’s Nest, a joint venture with the Lutheran (ELCA) synod in which he was instrumental. In 1999, he was installed as the Seventh Bishop of Rochester (New York).
It has been said that Bishop Spong “entered the small and little known Diocese of Newark and left it as a bulwark, perhaps radical, of progressive Christian thought and practice.” Some saw him as a hero, some a heretic with distinct camps on both sides of that question.
Collaboration in a New Millennium
John Palmer Croneberger was elected Bishop Coadjutor of Newark in June, 1998 and was invested as Ninth Bishop of Newark in January, 2000.
In an interview after his election as Coadjutor, Bishop Croneberger stated that his vision was of a “whole people of God” from whose collective visions and dreams would come the real vision of the Diocese. He devoted his 15 months as Coadjutor to listening and learning in order to equip himself to be a catalyst in areas of concern.
Several major initiatives were introduced in his first address to the Convention as Diocesan Bishop in January of 2000. First was the creation of a Commission on Liturgy and Church Music that was charged to create liturgies to affirm lay ministries, congregational and community occasions; to collect and share information about the variety of liturgical forms in use in the Diocese; and to develop a liturgy for the blessing of same-sex unions. In order to hold confirmations regionally, he also asked that the Commission develop appropriate services for those events.
Second, he asked for an examination of the work done by the Department of Missions with a view toward establishing teamwork and area planning as steps toward his concept of the Diocese as one Church with 119 (currently 113) mission stations. The Convention approved a new staff position, that of a Missioner for Congregational Development, to help make that view a reality. A little over two years later, in May of 2002, R. Carter Echols began her work as Canon for Congregational Development. The Bishop also proposed restructuring the districts from six into 10 with emphasis on clergy and lay collaboration and communication.
In that 2000 address, Bishop Croneberger stressed his style of management as a collaborative one. He empowered his senior staff members to speak for him on a wide range of matters. Senior staff members have been present at meetings of Diocesan Council and at other diocesan events and have traveled to represent the Bishop at congregational and district gatherings of clergy and laity. He indicated that he would not call for a Suffragan Bishop, but did ask the permission of the Convention to hire an assistant bishop if and when it was necessary. During Bishop Croneberger’s episcopate, three bishops have served as Assistant Bishop: the Rt. Rev. Theophilus Broome (Barbados, ret.), the Rt. Rev. Martin Townsend (Easton, ret.), and the Rt. Rev. Carol Gallagher (former Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of Southern Virginia).
The Congregational Growth and Development Fund was established by the Trustees of the Diocese in collaboration with Bishop Croneberger and diocesan staff. This fund has advanced a variety of congregational initiatives focused on expanding effective local ministry. Bishop Croneberger focused his concern for clergy collegiality in the annual Clergy Conference (attendance tripled from 40 to 125 during his tenure) and in regular District clergy conversations.
Bishop Croneberger initiated a study period and re-establishment of the vocational diaconate in the Diocese. For 26 years prior, those called to the vocational diaconate either had to be ordained to the priesthood, for which they felt no call, or to be inactive in their ministries. Fifteen deacons now serve in the Diocese.
A Justice Missioner was appointed with oversight of the Mission to Dismantle Racism, the Bethsaida Team, and The Oasis.
The role and effectiveness of Diocesan Council changed and expanded resulting in Council becoming an active governance partner. Functional working groups were developed to focus on the elements of diocesan work that are the canonical responsibilities of Council.
Efforts have been made during Bishop Croneberger’s tenure to reverse the long neglect of the Hispanic/Latino community in the Diocese (approximately 13% of the population).
Working with the Bishop’s office, clergy and laity from 10 of the Diocese’s predominately black congregations have been actively engaged in the Black Congregations Initiative, an ongoing process of strengthening ministry. They have addressed unique concerns of black congregations and done continuing education about polity, roles and responsibilities, and Church growth.
September 11, 2001 was a defining moment in the life of the Diocese of Newark when northern New Jersey sustained much of the brunt of the World Trade Center terrorism. Congregations, clergy and laity were all deeply affected. Many members of congregations worked in or near the twin towers and emergency and search personnel came from our towns. Mission and ministry received a new intentionality and focus.
In April, 2005 Bishop Croneberger notified the Diocese of his intention to call for a Special Convention for the election of the 10th Bishop of Newark. Citing the failing health of his wife, Marilyn, the Bishop wrote that he had intended to wait until the January, 2007 Convention to call for the election of a new Bishop, but felt an earlier date was essential.
The Special Convention was held in Christ Church, East Orange in June, 2005 during which the call for an election was issued and a timetable and election process were approved.
A Continuing and Faithful Legacy of Service
While the founders of the Diocese could not have imagined the range and types of ministries that would be active in the Diocese in this third millennium, they would certainly be pleased that their efforts were in many ways the firm foundation for a continuing and faithful legacy of service to the Church and to those on the margins.
NEXT: THE WORD OF GOD: A Lesson from the Acts of the People of the Diocese of Newark >>