Fr Ben Garren

Dear Siblings in Christ,

In 1818 Bishop John Henry Hobart spoke before the thirty-third convention of the Diocese of New York celebrating the work of Eleazer Williams, a man of Native American descent and the Episcopal Catechist to the Oneida People.

The bishop was exceptionally happy to report that soon after Williams “commenced his labors among the Oneidas, the Pagan party solemnly professed the Christian faith” and ended a long-standing division between the “Pagan Party,” those retaining their traditions, and the Christian Party, those who had renounced such, of the tribe. He then celebrated that Williams was soon to be ordained to the deaconate to further his ministry with the Oneida.

The nature of that ministry, unstated in Hobart’s address, was convincing the Oneida people to relocate from the area of upstate New York seven hundred miles away to Wisconsin. Hobart and Williams were successful in this work and instrumental in getting the Oneida people to leave their traditional land and move to the other side of the great lakes.

Williams moved with the Oneida and would be ordained a deacon in 1826. As Williams entered his forties, however, his ministry became focused on land acquisition, marrying a fourteen-year-old girl to gain access to her inheritance, and even questions of using his position to gain political control of the Oneida people. In 1832 the Oneida tribe repudiated him, dissolving all association with his work. By 1842 the Episcopal Bishop with oversight of Wisconsin Territories revoked his license to take up ministry in the area.

Our relationship with the Christians who came before us is about incorporating our lives into their work for God’s love. We are called to be better ministers on account of the legacies of those who strove as we now strive. This means learning both from their successes and also their failures.

As we celebrate John Henry Hobart, on this the day of his death, we do so by understanding his intentions, his desire for what was best for the Oneida people, and all the peoples of New York. We then have to ask how do we maintain those intentions in regard to the Oneida people when the results of Hobart’s work fell so short of his hopes? This is how we learn to love and to minister better to the community around us. This is one of the great gifts of being part of the communion of saints. We can pick up where others have failed and know that amidst our own failings others will come next to make amends.

Pax,

—Ben