Venerated in Anglican Communion Feast March 22 | Name James DeKoven | |
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Died March 19, 1879, Racine, Wisconsin, United States Education General Theological Seminary Books Dorchester Polytechnic Academy: Dr. Neverasole, Principal, James DeKoven, Anglican Saint | ||
James DeKoven (September 19, 1831 – March 19, 1879) was a priest, an educator and a leader of Anglican Ritualism in the Episcopal Church.
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Life
DeKoven was born in Middletown, Connecticut and educated at Columbia College. In 1851 he was admitted to General Theological Seminary and was ordained as a deacon in 1854 in Middletown. He accepted a teaching position at Nashotah House in Wisconsin and became rector of the nearby St. John Chrysostom parish in Delafield. It was there that he was ordained as a priest by Bishop Jackson Kemper. In 1859 he became the warden of Racine College and continued to be at the center of that school for the rest of his life.
He led the cause for ritualism at the National Conventions in 1871 and 1874. DeKoven was several times nominated and even elected as a bishop, but was never ordained to the episcopate. He was nominated or elected as bishop of Massachusetts (1873), Wisconsin (1874), Fond du Lac (1875), and Illinois (1875). In the Illinois election he was elected by the clergy and the laity, but the standing committee refused to accept his election. The reason given by the standing committee was his ‘doctrine on the Holy Eucharist.’ An open letter written in the Milwaukee paper on January 14, 1874 was at least partly responsible for his Eucharistic doctrine being questioned. The signers of this letter included three teachers from Nashotah House. He also addressed the Church Congress (a series of national meetings to cast a vision for the Episcopal Church) in 1876.
De Koven remained in Wisconsin for the rest of his life, turning down calls to lead some of the nation's largest and wealthiest parish churches, including Trinity Church in New York City, Church of the Advent in Boston, and St. Mark's Church in Philadelphia.
Death and legacy
After suffering a fall on the ice, De Koven died on St. Joseph’s Day (March 19) in 1879. He is buried on the grounds of Racine College, now the DeKoven Center, in Racine, Wisconsin. His feast day is March 22.
Popular culture
DeKoven's image is used as a graphic by the rock band Monstrance, which is composed of clergy from the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee.