Mission, Race, and Empire

The Episcopal Church in Global Context

By: Jennifer C. Snow

Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee

The history of the Episcopal Church is intimately bound up with the history of empire. The two grew in tandem in the modern era, and as they grew they developed particular ideologies and practices around race. As slavery was carried over into the new political formations of the United States, so too were racially based exclusions carried over in the Episcopal Church.

Mission, Race, and Empire presents a new history of the Episcopal Church from its origins in the early British Empire up to the present, told through the lenses of empire and race. The book demonstrates the dramatic shifts within the Episcopal Church, from initial colonial violence to reflective self-critique. Jennifer Snow centers the stories of groups and individuals that have often been sidelined, including Native Americans, Black Americans, Asian Americans, women, and LGBTQ people, as well as the institutional leaders who sought to create, or fought against, a church that desired to be a house of prayer for all people.

©2024 Oxford University Press (P)2023 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Great book!

The lens that was used to look at the colonialism of The Episcopal Church was thorough and told in a very approachable fashion. I thought this was an excellent book. The pronunciation of a few ecclesiastical terms could have been different— one that comes to mind is coadjutor.
Overall, though, this book is an excellent resource.

The great people's history

I have read numerous histories of the Episcopal Church. So many are placed in the context of buildings and events. What I appreciated about this one was that it was placed in the context of people. I have already recommended this book to a number of colleagues as a wonderful way to understand the broader context of people in the history of the Episcopal Church.