"For the peace and well-being of the churches": Patriots, Loyalists, and the state prayers in July 1776

In the week of 4th July last year, laudable Practice considered how English, Irish, and Loyalist Anglicans responded to the 'American War', perceiving it as an unjust rebellion against the liberal constitutional order secured by the Revolution of 1688. This year, in the week leading up to 4th July, we turn to those colonial Anglicans who sided with the Patriots. Their understanding of the Revolutionary War was encapsulated in a resolution of the Maryland Provincial Convention on 25th May 1776:

Whereas his Britannic majesty King George has prosecuted, and still prosecutes, a cruel and unjust war against the British Colonies in America, and has acceded to acts of parliament, declaring the people of the said colonies in actual rebellion: and whereas the good people of this province have taken up arms to defend their rights and liberties, and to repel the hostilities carrying on against them ...

As the resolution continued, it demonstrated how it had a particular relevance for Anglicans, the established church in Maryland:

and whilst engaged in such a contest, cannot, with any sincerity or devotion of heart, pray for the success of his majesty's arms; therefore Resolved, That every prayer and petition for the king's majesty, in the book of common prayer and administration of the sacraments and other rites and ceremonies of the church, according to the use of the church of England ... be henceforth omitted in all churches and chapels in this province, until our unhappy differences are ended.

Here was the most visible and prominent expression of the changing constitutional context for Anglicans in the American colonies in 1776: duly constituted representative assemblies were directing amendments to the Book of Common Prayer. The Crown, of course, did not sanction such amendments. Which authority was to be obeyed? Which was the legal authority?

Answering this question was not straight-forward. The Crown exercised its rule through representative assemblies. The Church of England had been established in the Province of Maryland by the General Assembly in 1692, with the Assembly maintaining and providing for the established Church in the more than half-century since. In the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Ireland, it was parliamentary acts which required the use of the Book of Common Prayer: it was recognised, in other words, that the legislature had a role in regulating the liturgy.

For Maryland parsons, therefore, there was law, practice, and tradition recommending acceptance of the General Assembly's resolution. As it has been estimated that 40% of Maryland clergy remained loyal to the Crown, we can assume that 60% accepted the General Assembly's resolution and, from 25th May 1776, omitted from the liturgy the prayers for the monarch. State prayers, however, were integral to the Prayer Book liturgy. What then was to be done? The rector of Chaptico Church in St. Mary's County, demonstrated how the practice of state prayers continued, in the changed constitutional context. He papered over the petitions for the King in the Litany with a petition for the Continental Congress:

it might please thee to bless the honorable Congress with Wisdom to discern and Integrity to pursue the true Interest of the United States.

Turning to Virginia, the Church of England had been established by the House of Burgesses in 1619. As John K. Nelson's study has noted, the Virginia legislature "fashioned an effective establishment of the Church of England", through which "Anglican worship - in form and substance - prevailed everywhere in the colony". The legislature was routinely involved in maintaining and overseeing this establishment. For example, to again quote Nelson, "The journals of the House of Burgesses provide graphic evidence of the persistence of parish issues". Legislation also addressed the duties of ministers, clergy stipends, the rights of vestries, and regulated church attendance.

As with Maryland, therefore, the General Assembly of the Colony of Virginia had a long established role in ecclesiastical affairs. It is against this background that Virginian parsons would have read the resolution of the General Convention - the House of Burgesses acting without the Royal Governor - on 5th July 1776:

Reformation of the Book of Common Prayer by the Virginia Convention

In Convention, Williamsburgh, July 5, 1776.

Resolved, That the following sentences in the Morning and Evening Service shall be omitted: "O Lord, save the King, and mercifully hear us when we call upon Thee." That the 15th, 16th , 17th , and 18th sentences in the Litany, for the King's Majesty, and the Royal Family, &c., shall be omitted.

That the Prayers in the Communion Service, which acknowledge the authority of the King, and so much of the Prayer for the Church Militant as declares the same authority, shall be omitted, and this alteration made in one of the above Prayers in the Communion Service: "Almighty and everlasting God, we are taught by thy Holy Word that the hearts of all Rulers are in thy governance, and that Thou dost dispose and turn them as it seemeth best to thy godly wisdom; we humbly beseech Thee so to dispose and govern the hearts of all the Magistrates of this Commonwealth, that in all their thoughts, words, and works, they may evermore seek thy honour and glory, and study to preserve thy people committed to their charge, in wealth, peace, and godliness. Grant this, O merciful Father, for thy dear Son's sake, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

That the following Prayer shall be used, instead of the Prayer for the King's Majesty, in the Morning and Evening Service: "O Lord, our heavenly Father, high and mighty King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the only Ruler of the Universe, who dost, from thy throne, behold all the dwellers upon earth, most heartily we beseech Thee, with thy favour, to behold the Magistrates of this Commonwealth, and so replenish them with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that they may always incline to thy will, and walk in thy way; endue them plenteously with heavenly gifts; strengthen them that they may vanquish and overcome all their enemies ; and finally, after this life, they may obtain everlasting joy and felicity, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

In the twentieth sentence of the Litany, use these words: "That it may please Thee to endue the Magistrates of this Commonwealth with grace, wisdom, and understanding." In the succeeding one, use these words: "That it may please Thee to bless and keep them, giving them grace to execute justice and maintain truth.”

J.C.D. Clark notes that 74 of the 100 Anglican clergy in Virginia supported the Patriot cause and, therefore, would have accepted the General Convention's amendments to the Prayer Book. In doing so, they were reflecting the long-established role of the Virginian legislature in ecclesiastical affairs.

Note, too, how the state prayers in Virginia were amended. They retained the same phrases and structure as those of 1662. What might push this point further: these were not revolutionary revisions of the state prayers. A similar theological understanding was at work regarding the role of the civil magistrate and the duties of citizens, transferred from the Crown to provincial authorities.

What, however, of Anglicans in colonies without an Anglican establishment? On 4th July 1776, in the city of Philadelphia, the rector of Christ Church - Jacob Duché, who was chaplain to the Continental Congress - called a vestry meeting to advise on altering the state prayers. The Christ Church vestry passed the following resolution:

Whereas the honourable continental congress have resolved to declare the American colonies to be free  and independent states; in consequence of which it will be proper to omit those petitions in the liturgy  wherein the king of Great Britain is prayed for, as inconsistent with the said declaration. Therefore,  resolved, that it appears to this vestry to be necessary, for the peace and well being of the churches, to omit the said petitions; and the rector and assistant ministers of the united churches are requested in the name of the vestry and their constituents, to omit such petitions as are above mentioned.

Pennsylvania, of course, had no Anglican establishment. By July 1776, however, the authority of the Continental Congress had been recognised by the legislatures of the thirteen colonies and by a majority of Americans (with a large minority of Americans remaining loyal to the Crown). In such a context, the decision of the Christ Church vestry reflected a changed constitutional context. This could be considered as akin to ceasing to pray for James II in February 1689, following the Convention Parliament - deviating from the line of succession - recognising William and Mary as monarchs. (Loyalists, of course, would point out that in 1776, unliked 1688-89, the throne had not been vacated.)

As a result, the state prayers in Christ Church, Philadelphia were revised. In place of the petition for the King, the Litany now prayed for the Congress:

That is may please thee to endue the Congress of the United States & all others in Authority, legislative, executive, & judicial with grace, wisdom & understanding, to execute Justice and to maintain Truth.

Here again we can see how the 1662 state prayers, while adapted to reflect a new constitutional context, were amended rather than overthrown. The phrase "to execute Justice and to maintain Truth" echoes the petition for the Sovereign in the Prayer for the Church Militant, while "grace, wisdom & understanding" is the petition in the 1662 Litany for "the Lords of the Council". As if to demonstrate the applicability of this petition to both a constitutional monarchy and a republic, the Church of Ireland BCP 1926 Litany prays in Northern Ireland that God will "endue the Ministers of the Crown", and in the Republic of Ireland "the Ministers of this State", with "grace, wisdom, and understanding".

Those colonial Anglicans who remained loyal to the Crown embodied an Anglican way shaped by oaths of allegiance, the state prayers of the liturgy, and Royal Supremacy. As one Loyalist parson in rural Pennsylvania stated, "I look upon the King's supremacy and the constitution of the Church of England to be so intimately blended". 

At the same time, however, those colonial Anglicans in provinces with established churches, in which legislatures directed amendments to the state prayers, were also reflecting an Anglican way in which church and civil magistrate - in this case, provincial legislatures - were likewise "intimately blended". To change the state prayers in such a context was also an expression of Anglican custom and recognition of the authority of the civil magistrate. Colonial Anglicans in colonies without an Anglican establishment, but in which the authority of the Continental Congress was recognised by provincial legislatures, were similarly reflecting a recognition of the vocation and authority of the civil magistrate which had deep roots in the Anglican tradition.

We might suggest that a similar concern was at work in both allegiances.  To return to the Loyalist parson in rural Pennsylvania, he maintained the state prayers for the Crown because "whenever the [Royal] supremacy is ... abrogated the fences of the Church are ... broken down and its visibility destroyed". For the vestry of Christ Church, Philadelphia, changes to the state prayers were required "for the peace and well being of the churches", for opposition to the legitimate authority of the civil magistrate was contrary to Anglican tradition and experience.

Both allegiances reflected church and civil magistrate being "intimately blended"; both allegiances had a concern for the church not being placed in opposition to the legitimate authority of the magistrate; and, as the state prayers were amended rather than rewritten in revolutionary fashion, both allegiances prayed for the civil magistrate in a fashion immediately identifiable as Anglican, according to the Prayer Book. 

In other words, it is the similarities between the two Anglican allegiances which makes this episode particularly interesting. Contrary to Clark's interpretation of the Revolutionary War involving a conflict between two contrasting expressions of Anglicanism (High Church Loyalists and Latitudinarian Patriots), it is the similarities between Loyalist and Patriot Anglicans which are most significant and which reflect the character of the wider political conflict as a civil war. 

These similarities also assist in explaining how former Loyalists were easily integrated in the newly-formed Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America after the Peace of Paris. Fundamental to that integration was former Loyalists praying the state prayers, from BCP 1789, for the civil authorities in the United States: state prayers which shared the language and theology of the prayers the Loyalists had been offering for the Crown. It is this which, perhaps above all, demonstrates that the amendments to the state prayers which occurred in 1776, rather than being revolutionary, were an organic development within the Anglican tradition.

A Prayer for the President of the United States, and all in Civil Authority. 

O LORD, our heavenly Father, the high and mighty Ruler of the universe, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth; Most heartily we beseech thee, with thy favour to behold and bless thy servant The President of the United States, and all others in authority; and so replenish them with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that they may always incline to thy will, and walk in thy way. Endue them plenteously with heavenly gifts; grant them in health and prosperity long to live; and finally, after this life, to attain everlasting joy and felicity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(The first photograph is of the Rector's changes to the Litany in the Prayer Book of Chaptico Church, St. Mary's County, Maryland, following the May 1776 resolution of the Maryland Convention. The second is from the minutes book of the vestry of Christ Church, Philadelphia, showing the resolution passed on 4th July 1776. The third is of changes to the Prayer Book of Bruton Parish, Williamsburg, Virginia in 1776.)