Charles Henry Brent, Apostle for Unity

At a time when Episcopalians appear torn apart in cultural wan, it is instructive to recall leaders who rose above the difficulties of their day and offered a vision of hope. Those in the Episcopal Church today who seek to reconcile opposing views, so far with little success, others who believe the church is beyond reformable, and those who, like Professor Frank E. Sugeno, wish that all controversialists go back into their closets, could hardly do better than to consider the witness to church unity of one of three or four great figures of our church in the century just past, Charles Henry Brent. kind of leadership which wouJd move us all forward in the faith today is a rare commodity. Brent had it and exercised it. With his characteristically wise understatement, Frank Sugeno reminds us that for Bishop Brent Christian unity among denominations was not simply a nice idea but one mandated by our Lord (John 15: 12-17). If that stern command applied to faith and order among the churches, then surely it must do so within each of them as well. -Editor's Note. calls man to unity-His ideal. Man calls to God for unity-his need. From Bishop Charles Henry Brent's sermon, The Call to Unity, delivered at the World Conference on Faith and Order, Lausanne, Switzerland, August 3, 1927. Charles Henry Brent (1862-1929), a bishop of the Episcopal CWurch in the United States, has been called an apostle for unity. title is apt, for in contrast to many ecumenists of his age, Brent saw unity as an end in itself. Unlike those who promoted church unity for its instrumental value, Brent sought to unite the churches in the conviction that unity was of the very essence of Christianity. A church in communion with God would seek to unite itself with other churches and ultimately with all of mankind. A united church would be in closer union with God. Christian unity and communion with God were of a piece. To begin the process of uniting the churches of the world, Brent initiated the Faith and Order Movement. Charles Henry Brent was a native of Canada. He accepted a position with the Episcopal Church in the United States following his ordination, as no positions were open in his own diocese. He served parishes in Buffalo and Boston and was a postulant in the monastic Society of Saint John the Evangelist for a short period. In 1902 he was elected Bishop of the newly formed missionary district in the Philippines. During his years in the Philippines he gained international recognition as an authority on the opium problem. He brought about the convening of the first international opium conference and served on the American delegation to these conferences for many years. In 1917 he was requested to organize a chaplaincy corps for the American Expeditionary Force by General John Pershing. He stayed on as Chief of Chaplains for the duration of World War I, and after his discharge from the army accepted the position of Bishop of Western New York. He continued in that position until his death in 1929. Brent's ecumenical activities began in the Philippines. He had had ecumenical contacts in Boston where he sought to enlist church support for a community building program in the slums of the city. In the Philippines he had frequent contact with missionaries and church officials of other denominations. These ecumenical contacts were, however, sporadic and limited. Only as he began to perceive the pernicious character of church division did he throw himself into the work of the church unity and to make it the center of his ministry. As with many other missionaries, Brent became aware of the full consequences of church division while working in an alien setting. meager resources available to missionaries were pitifully inadequate for the massive task at hand. To have these resources divided among Christian denominations and squandered on denominational rivalry seemed outrageous. In the Philippines the anarchy and confusion that had resulted from the years of struggle for independence from Spain and from the United States was being compounded by the divisive activities of the churches. …

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