Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Bishop James T. Holly: First African American Episcopal Bishop

On this Tuesday in the Third week of Lent, the Episcopal Church remembers James Theodore Holly who was the first African American Bishop in the Episcopal Church and Bishop of Haiti.

James was born in 1829 in Washington, D.C., the descendant of freed slaves. His great-great grandfather was a Scotsman in Maryland, and was the master of several Holly slaves whom he freed in 1772, including his son and namesake James Theodore Holly. As a free man, he married the daughter of an Irish Catholic whose last name was Butler, and they had a son, Rueben, who was the father of Bishop Holly's grandfather.

James was baptized and raised as a Catholic, and he spent his early years in Washington, D.C. and in Brooklyn, N.Y.where he connected with Frederick Douglass and other Black abolitionists. James became active in anti-slavery conventions in the free states and he participated in abolitionist activities.

James left the Roman Catholic Church over a dispute about ordaining local black clergy, and he joined the Episcopal Church in 1852. He was a shoemaker, then a teacher and school principal before his own ordination at the age of 27. James served as the rector at St Luke’s Episcopal Church in New Haven, Connecticut and was one of the founders of the Protestant Episcopal Society for Promoting the Extension of the Church Among Colored People (a forerunner of UBE) in 1856. This group challenged the Church to take a position against slavery at General Convention.

In 1861, he left the United States with his family and a group of African Americans to settle in Haiti. In July of 1863, Holly organized Holy Trinity Episcopal Church.

With disease and poor living conditions, James lost his entire family, but he was successful in establishing schools and building the Church. He trained young priests and started congregations and medical programs in the countryside.

James was ordained bishop at Grace Church, New York City in 1874, not by the mainstream Episcopal Church, who refused to ordain a black missionary bishop, but by the American Church Missionary Society, an Evangelical Episcopal branch of the Church. He was named Bishop of the Anglican Orthodox Episcopal Church of Haiti, and James attended the Lambeth Conference in London as a bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Bishop Holly was also given charge of the Episcopal Church in the Dominican Republic from 1897-1911. He died in Haiti in on this day in 1911.

Let us pray: Most gracious God, by the calling of your servant James Theodore Holly, you gave us our first bishop of African-American heritage. In his quest for life and freedom, he led your people from bondage into a new land and established the Church in Haiti. Grant that, inspired by his testimony, we may overcome our prejudice and honor those whom you call from every family, language, people, and nation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS


THIS IS THE BIG SECOND ANNUAL BBQ WEEKEND (SATURDAY, 17 MARCH) WITH BIG MISTA & FRIENDS!

THE LENTEN SERIES CONTINUES THIS WEDNESDAY AT GRACE at 6:00 p.m. starting with Stations of the Cross.

END OF LIFE ISSUES DAY, Saturday, 24 March at 11:00 a.m.

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST, especially Patricia Robinson, Stacey Putman’s parents, all of those who will be traveling this week and for all of those seeking employment.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550

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