Missionary Bishops

The Case of Jackson Kemper (1789-1870) and its Significance for Today

Abstract

While the Anglican church has been a missionary church, it is also a church led by bishops. At times, this episcopal structure has raised challenges for how missionary work in new fields ought to be approached. What comes first, a bishop or a church? Should missionaries and evangelists first plant churches and then later set apart bishops? Where is the authority for the church planting in the absence of a bishop? Anglicans have wrestled with this tension for centuries.  When the Episcopal church’s Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society was reorganized in 1835, a new structure developed for sending missionaries to the American West. That year, Jackson Kemper (1789-1870) was set apart as the first missionary bishop—tasked with establishing Episcopal congregations in the western frontier states. In this article, I sketch out the mission practice and theology of Bishop Kemper in the American West and conclude by discussing the relevance of missionary bishops today.