History of Asian Immigration to the United States - The Episcopal Church and Asia
What is the Episcopal Church?
The Episcopal Church orignates from the Church of England, which broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century over political and theological issues. The Episcopal Church is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion who themselves both Catholic and Protestant. They are Catholic in the sense that they retained much of the liturgical and sacramental understanding of the early church; Protestant in the sense of being a church always open to reformation and renewal. (2)
There are noticeable differences in the Episcopal Church in comparison to other churches. In the Episcopal Church bishops and priests can be married; there is no centralized authority figure like the pope; lay people play a greater role in decision making; sacramental confession is optional not required; married couples are permitted to use responsible means of birth control. Because the Episcopal Church's national churches are autonomous, yet interdependent, decision-making in the Episcopal Church can seem messy than that of the centralized Roman Catholic Church. (2)
Founding of Episcopal High School & the Seminary
Episcopal High School was founded by the Seminary. The first few Asian students at Episcopal were largely influenced by religion to attend Episcopal High School. This page examines the broader history of the Episcopal Church, the Seminary as well as the spiritual reasons why our first few Asian students attended Episcopal. The first Asian student at Episcopal, Theodore Wong, was the son of a Chinese Episcopalian missionary.
The Episcopal Church’s interest in Chinese missionary work reflected a larger fascination with Chinese culture at the time. Headmaster Lanuncelor Blackford capitalized on his access to Chinese missionaries to arrange lectures about China for his students, and the EHS Missionary Society provided modest financial support of missionary activity in China. (4)
Ministry of Episcopal Church in the United States of America to Immigrants and Refugees
From its earliest days, the Episcopal Church has ministered to the new arrivals to the US from other countries. These efforts have varied in their scope, motivation, methods, direction, and effectiveness. There were times when these efforts were carried as regular ministries of churches. Other times, these efforts have taken the form of specialized ministries. In each of these efforts, these efforts have evolved as a specific response to a particular set of conditions. (2)
Much of the work of the Episcopal Church with immigrants has been carried on by individuals and congregations who have responded to the needs and opportunities in their communities. These ministries have been given diocesan, a district under the pastoral care of a bishop in the Christian Church, and national Church support or have worked on their own. (2)
Theological and Social Motives Behind the Foreign Mission work of the Episcopal Church
American Protestant foreign missions played a significant role in the expansion of American political, economic, and cultural interests around the world during the 19th century. In the first few decades after the Revolutionary War, Episcopalians in the United States were preoccupied with rescuing the church from its earlier associations with the British crown. These rescue efforts involved the organization of dioceses, the formation of a national constitution, the adaptation of the prayer book to the post-revolutionary political scene, and the attempts to secure an indigenous episcopate. At the time, missionary outreach was not the main concern of the Episcopal Church. What little missionary work went on was focused on building up the church where it existed. Henceforth, Missionary, prayer book, and education societies were set up in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina to help the development of the church on the western frontier. (4)
While the reasons for the domestic missions came within the church, the Episcopal Church’s involvement in foreign missions were encouraged by three impulses external to the church. Firstly, Protestant voluntary societies were founded specifically in dedication to foreign missionary work. Examples include the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1810 and the Baptist General Missionary Convention in 1814. American Episcopalians were inspired to look beyond their own dioceses and the frontier in their missionary outreach. Secondly, the British Church Missionary society (CMS), founded in 1799, pushed the American church to form its own foreign missionary through the CMS’ association with the Right Reverend Alexander Viets Griswold. The CMS offered financial assistance. Lastly, the Episcopalians involved in the foundation of the American Colonization Society challenged the Church to provide the spiritual needs of the American colony in Africa, later known as Liberia. (4)
In 1816, Episcopalians in Pennsylvania organized the first missionary society for both domestic and foreign missions, the Protestant Episcopal Missionary Society of Pennsylvania. Three members of the Pennsylvania Society proposed to the General Convention of 1820 that Episcopalians should consider establishing a similar domestic and foreign missionary society as an organization of the whole Episcopal Church. These three were the Reverend Jackson Kemper, later the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Reverend George Boyd, later the first secretary of the Board of Missions, and the Reverend William A. Muhlenberg. (4)
Although the primary concern of the General Conventions of 1820 and 1821 were the establishment for the Episcopal Church, time was set aside to consider the merits of a domestic and foreign missionary society for the church. During the Special General Convention of 1821, details for the establishment of both the seminary and missionary society were carefully thought through. From these efforts came the General Theological Seminary and the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. (4)
Later on with the work of Bishop Doane, the Domestic and Foreign Missionary society were no long seen as voluntary organizations. Instead, the Episcopal church stated that the church itself is the missionary society of every Episcopalian, by the virtue of his/her baptism, is a member of it. Since 1835, the Episcopal Church has said that mission and the church are inseparable. To be Episcopalian is to be involved in mission, and the church is mission. (4)
Growth of the Episcopal Foreign Missionaries in the 20th century
Episcopal foreign mission increased more in the first two decades of the 20th century than any other time in the history of the church. In 1899 the Episcopal church supported 103 American missionaries in the three foreign mission fields of Liberia, China, and Japan. By 1919, 371 American Episcopalian missionaries were serving overseas in twelve foreign and five extra continental missionary districts of the Episcopal Church. (4)
The mission work of the Episcopal Church was affected by the social gospel of the late 19th century. Inspired by the writings of Frederick Denison Maurice and Charles Kingsley, individuals such as William Augustus Muhlenberg, rector of the Church and Holy Communion in New York City, promoted the social outreach of the Episcopal Church. The drive to spread the religion, civilization, and education fostered by the national church ideal led to a dramatic increase in the church’s missionary activities in the first two decades of the 20th century. (4)
Episcopal Church in China
After China signed the Nanjing (Nanking) Treaty after the deafeat in the Opium War, Protestant missionaries were allowed to work in China. China soon became the largest Protestant mission field with more than 10,000 missionaries mostly from the Uk and the US. In the 1930s, Protestant presence increased in China through building churches, schools, hospitals, and other social service agencies. (7)
In 1844, the general convention elected Rev William Jones Boone as the Missionary Bishop of China. He was consecrated on October 26th 1844. Rev William Jones' position was changed to the Missionary Bishop of Shanghai with jurisdiction in China. Indeed, the Protestant Episcopal Mission had its headquarters in Shanghai. Then in 1901, the General Convention voted to divide their missionary in China into the Missionary District of Shanghai and the Missionary District of Hankow. Then on October 11th 1910, the Missionary District of Hankow was divided and re-named to Missionary District of Wuhu was created. In 1913, Wuhu's name was changed to Anting. By 1949, the three American Districts of Anting, Hankow, and Shanghai became part of the Holy Catholic Church in China. (1)
St. John's University, Shanghai
Around 1851, the Episcopal Church began an institution for boys in Shanghai--the foundation for St. John's in Shanghai. The school wasfounded by the Rt. Rev. Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky, Bishop of Shanghai 1877-1883. On Easter Monday, April 14th, 1879, the cornerstone of the building was set. A house for the bishop was completed in June 1879. On September 1st 1879, St. John's College opened. Theology instructions began on October 28th, 1879. In October of 1880, a medical school with nine students was opened. Then in June 1881, St. Mary's Hall, a boarding school for women, was opened. The boarding school was separated from the college by a brick wall. Later in 1905, the college was incorporated as St. John's University, recognized as the foremost Christian institution in China. (11)
In the early years, chapel services was obligatory for all students with two services on Sunday. In 1931, the policy was changed so that attendance was obligatory only for Chrisitan students, about one-third of the student body at the time. Later on, chapel attendance became voluntary for all students to follow the regulations required by the Chinese government for registration of educational institutitions. (12)
In 1952, St. John's University in Shanghai was closed by China's Communist leadership. (10)
Episcopal Church in South Korea
In the 18th century, curious Korean intellectuals encountered Catholicism in Beijing and smuggled it home. Confucian monarchs, sensing rival allegience, excuted the early converts. (15)
By the 1880s, Korea was starting to open up. The mainly American missionaries made two astute moves, one of which was opening the first modern schools. These schools admitted girls, allowing an increased avaliability of education. The missionaries also translated the Bible into the vernacular Korean alphabet, increasing accessibility. (15)
Robert F. Maclay, the Methodist superintendent in Japan, visited Korea in 1884. Maclay received permission to open schools and hospitals. The first Methodist missionaries, representing the Methodist Episcopal Church, arrived in 1885. Dr. William B. Scranton opened a medical center, and two other members of the party, Ella J. D. Appenzeller, the wife of Henry G. Appenzeller, and Mary F. Scranton, opened the first school for girls. In the 1890s, missionaries from the Methodist Episcopal Church arrived in the 1890s. In 1930, anticipating the 1939 union of the two Methodist churches (both now constituent parts of the United Methodist Church), the Korean missions merged to form the Korean Methodist Church. (9)
From the time the Right Reverend John C Corfe arrived in Korea in 1890 until 1965, the Diocese of Korea had English Bishops. In 1993 the Archbishop of Canterbury installed the newly elected Primate and handed jurisdiction to him, making the Anglican Church of Korea a Province of the Anglican Communion. There are four religious communities in the country as well as an Anglican University. Currently, the primate in South Korea is Reverend Onesimus Dongsin Park. The provincial secretary is Reverend Stephen Yoo. (13)
Episcopal Church in Japan
In 1859, the American Episcopal Church sent two missionaries to Japan, followed some years later by representatives of the Church of England and the Church of Canada. The first Anglican Synod, an assembly of the clergy, occurred in 1887. The first Japanese Bishops were consecrated in 1923. The Church remained underground during World War II and assumed all Church leadership after the war. Sei Ko Kai Shumbun, the Church monthly, is augmented by NSKK, published in English. The NSKK stands for the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Anglican Communion in Japan. (14)
Episcopal Church in Southeast Asia
Episcopal Church in the Philippines
The Episcopal Church in the Philippines originated in the religious ferment that followed the annexation of the Philippine Islands by the United States in 1898. The Episcopal Church in the United States sent missionaries, who arrived in 1902 with instructions to target those segments of the population not otherwise affiliated with any Christian church. Among groups so identified were the Chinese who lived in Manila, various ethnic groups in northern Luzon, and the Muslims of Mindanao and Sulu. (8)
The work progressed steadily, and a set of primary and secondary schools was established. After World War II, during which the church suffered considerably from the Japanese occupation, a move to build indigenous leadership was vigorously pursued, and the number of Filipino priests increased sharply during the 1950s. The first Filipino bishop was consecrated in 1967. (8)
The church has had a unique relationship with the Philippine Independent Church, which has Anglican orders, and in 1961 the two churches entered into full communion. Until 1990, the work in the Philippines was part of Province VIII of the Episcopal Church in the United States, but in that year it was set apart as an autonomous jurisdiction. The church is at one in faith and practice with the wider Anglican Communion and led by its prime bishop. (8)
References
1. "China, Missionary District of." Episcopal Church. March 07, 2013. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/china-missionary-district
2. Craighill, Peyton G. "The Ministry of The Episcopal Church In The United States of America to Immigrants And Refugees: A Historical Outline." Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church 51, no. 2 (1982): 203-18. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42974724.
3. Crow. "Episcopalians Explained. Not Really Protestant." Theology Forums. October 21, 207. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://theologyforums.com/index.php?threads/episcopalians-explained-not-really-protestant.3083/.
4. Douglas, Ian T. ""A Light to the Nations" Episcopal Foreign Missions in Historical Perspective." Anglican and Episcopal History 61, no. 4 (1992): 449-81. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43049773.
5. Kinsolving, Arthur Barksdale. The Story of a Southern School: The Episcopal High School of Virginia. Forgotten Books, 2017.
7. Melton, J. Gordon. "China." In World Religions: Belief, Culture, and Controversy,
8. Melton, J. Gordon. "Episcopal Church in the Philippines." In World Religions: Belief, Culture, and Controversy,
9. Melton, J. Gordon. "South Korea." In World Religions: Belief, Culture, and Controversy,
10. Reporter, Patricia Wen -. "The Lost Liberal Arts University of China - The Boston Globe." BostonGlobe.com. March 03, 2012. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2012/03/03/lost-liberal-arts-university-china/3LJyEaS3DgTnw79epRP4lL/story.html.
11. "St John's University, Shanghai." Episcopal Church. March 07, 2013. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/st-johns-university-shanghai.
12. "St. John's University." The History of 78 RPM Recordings | Yale University Library. May 24, 2018. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://web.library.yale.edu/divinity/special-collections/ubchea/st-johns-university.
13. "The Anglican Church of Korea." Episcopal Church. April 12, 2018. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://www.episcopalchurch.org/anglican-province/anglican-church-korea.
14. "The Nippon Sei Ko Kai (The Anglican Communion in Japan)." Episcopal Church. September 12, 2016. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://www.episcopalchurch.org/anglican-province/nippon-sei-ko-kai-anglican-communion-japan.
15. "Why South Korea Is so Distinctively Christian." The Economist. August 12, 2014. Accessed January 25, 2019. https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2014/08/12/why-south-korea-is-so-distinctively-christian.