In the last battle before the Round of the Saintly Sixteen, we encounter two trailblazers. Edward Thomas Demby was the first African-American bishop ordained in the Episcopal Church and Dorothy Day was an important figure in the cause of social justice. Will Dorothy win the Day? Or will Edward Demby-onstrate the will to win? (sorry, couldn't come up with anything comparable for him). The winner will take on Benedict of Nursia in the next round.
In yesterday's action, Martha of Bethany trampled all over the "Little Flower," Thérèse of Lisieux. While we don't take sides, it's nice that we'll no longer have to search for those accents on Thérèse. Martha will face Harriet Tubman in what should prove to be a hotly contested battle.
Edward Thomas Demby
Edward Thomas Demby holds the distinction of being ordained the first African American bishop in the Episcopal Church. In 1918 he became the Suffragan Bishop for Colored Work in Arkansas and the Providence of the Southwest.
Bishop Demby, born in Wilmington, Delaware, and raised in Philadelphia, attended Howard University and Wilberforce University in Ohio. He then entered the academic world and from 1894 to 1896 was Dean of Students at Paul Quinn College in Texas. At this time he was confirmed in the Episcopal Church.
This is when Bishop John F. Spalding of Colorado took special interest in Demby. He went to work in the Diocese of Tennessee where he was ordained a deacon in 1898 and a priest the following year.
While in Tennessee, Demby served as rector at St. Paul’s Church in Mason as well as two posts in academic administration. Then, from 1900 to 1907 Demby ministered to parishes in Illinois, Missouri, and Florida.
Demby returned to Tennessee in 1907 to become rector of Emmanuel Church in Memphis. This is where he served as the Secretary of the segregated southern “colored convocations” and was the Archdeacon for Colored Work. It was while he was Archdeacon that he was elected the first African American suffragan bishop.
Demby's context was a segregated ministry, in which he worked tirelessly to establish black service institutions, like schools, hospitals and orphanages. Demby saw this as a way to build relationships with African Americans who, before emancipation, had understood the Episcopal Church as the faith community of their masters. However Demby’s witness, as a compassionate leader and committed Episcopalian, helped forge bonds that attracted many people and live on today.
For more than twenty years, Demby labored amidst white apathy, inconsistent funding, and the foggy commitment of his own denomination (not to mention the Great Depression) to build a ministry that would eventually evolve into desegregation.
Bishop Demby shares a feast day with the second African American bishop in the Episcopal Church, Henry Beard Delany, hence the wording of their Collect.
Collect for Edward Thomas Demby
Loving God, we thank you for the ministries of Edward Thomas Demby and Henry Beard Delany, bishops of your Church who, though limited by segregation, served faithfully to your honor and glory. Assist us, we pray, to break through the limitations of our own time, that we may minister in obedience to Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
-- Chris Yaw
Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, was born in Brooklyn in 1897. As a young girl, while living in San Francisco where her father was a journalist, she experienced the devastating earthquake of 1906. Her memory of the assistance people offered to those made homeless by the tragedy remained with her throughout her life.
Though her parents were not religious, her brothers were members of an Episcopal church choir and, from the age of ten, she attended services and became enamored of the liturgy and music. She was baptized and confirmed but continued to think of herself as an agnostic.
After dropping out of college, she lived a bohemian life in New York City. She wrote for socialist publications and immersed herself in the causes of pacifism and women’s suffrage. Gradually a spiritual awakening crystalized into a conversion to Christianity upon the birth of her daughter Tamar in 1927. She was received into the Roman Catholic Church and later became an Benedictine oblate.
In the midst of the Great Depression, with her friend and colleague Peter Maurin, Day founded the Catholic Worker movement. Their newspaper, the Catholic Worker, an immediate success, focused on promoting Catholic social teaching and offering a pacifist viewpoint in a period when international tensions increased around the world.
Implicit in the movement was the need to care for those in need. Houses of Hospitality were started first in New York to care for the needs of anyone who needed food, clothing, or shelter. Before long several farms were established to allow people to live in community and grow their own food. By the early 1940s, 30 Catholic Worker communities were established across the U.S. Today 100 communities serve people in ten countries.
Throughout her life, until her death in 1980, Day spoke of God’s love and the causes of peace and justice, even when she ran afoul of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. When broached by critics with Jesus’ words that the “poor shall always be with us,” she replied, "Yes, but we are not content that there should be so many of them.”
Novelist and theologian Frederick Buechner said, “Vocation is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Dorothy Day’s life bears witness to that definition; she remains an icon for those who would meld their Christian faith with the pursuit of social justice.
Collect for Dorothy Day
Merciful God, you called your servant Dorothy Day to show us the face of Jesus in the poor and forsaken. By constant practice of the works of mercy, she embraced poverty and witnessed steadfastly to justice and peace. Count her among your saints and lead us all to become friends of the poor ones of the earth, and to recognize you in them. We ask this through your Son Jesus Christ, bringer of good news to the poor. Amen.
-- Heidi Shott
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117 comments on “Edward Thomas Demby vs. Dorothy Day”
Doroth Day praised both Castro and Che Guevara and took no issue with Che's actions as Castro's chief assassain. She felt that actions like this were the price of revolution.
Bishop Demby spent a lifetime working to overcome the evil that is discrimination. The choice today was easy.
I did not know that detail about DD. For some reason it was omitted. Then, as Cuban, I am glad that I voted for bishop Demby.
I did not know that political detail about the Cuban involvement either. I agree that it is hard to think of a saint who sanctions murder.
Like!
A thoughtful response. Achieves the goals of the founders. 🙂
From my perspective as a member of a small, struggling and historically African American congregation, I am concerned that young Episcopalians still are not aware of how much racism pervades the church.
Dorothy Day changed by life. I lived in Catholic Worker Houses for 6 years, and still try to live by the principles of love in action that I learned there. She would not consider herself a saint because she "did not want to be dismissed so lightly" but maybe in this case she would approve. I go with Dorothy!
Hi Gayle!
If the concept of "saint" is to be of any use to us, it must be to call out of us our deep gladness to serve Christ. Dorothy Day has been supremely effective in this regard. I cast my vote in honor of J.C. Orton, a "living saint" who does more than is humanly possible to feed, clothe and shelter those in need under the banner of the Catholic Workers Night on the Street ministry in Berkeley, CA.
A very hard choice for me. Well, after I woke up enough to realize that Doris Day wasn't up for the Golden Halo! Finally, I decided that the Bishop did his amazing and admirable ministry within the status quo and DD shook things up. Shaking up the powers that be is hard for me, so that increases my admiration for Dorothy.
Well, this one was a tough choice for sure! Wish I could vote for both, but ended up casting mine for Dorothy Day, as she is such a great role model for us deacons!!
Having lived in Massachusetts and worshipping with retired Bishop John Burgess before his death in 2003, I was surprised to read that Denby was the first Afrixcan-American bishop. We had always understood that this distinction went to Bishop burgess so I did a little research. Bishop Burgess was the first African-American bishop of a diocese in the Episcopal Church, perhaps a seemingly small disticntion but an important one to me. Knowing Bishop Burgess and his dear wife as I did, my vote went to Dorothy Day. Is there any logic there? No, but this is Lent Madness!
In celebration of my wonderful bishop, the first African American bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, I cast my vote for another great Episcopal bishop Edward Thomas Demby.
Not sure there are any Episcopaleans in heaven...or Lutherans, or Catholics, or any other denomination. I suspect it is just one big happy family amidst the great cloud of witnesses. That said, it was a tough choice. Bishop Demby isn't known as well as he should be and is a terrific Christian witness. Dorothy Day certainly had a rough start and is accused of many things by detractors, but in the end, she was the classic sinner-saint. Although a former soldier and police officer, I remain thankful for the welcome I received at the Casa Maria Catholic Worker Community in Milwaukee in the mid-1990s. Her legacy remains a true and faithful witness to the Gosepl among many. Although we might differ on some of the “how-tos” and theology, I long for the kingdom of God to be ushered into our world. As a kind of thank you, I'm voting for Dorothy Day.
Another completely unfair matchup! Two wondrous figures, both of whom shook their fists at the status quo in the name of Christ. What's not to love in both? Although I'm heartbroken not to vote for Demby's incredible service to the marginalized, I can't not vote for Dorothy Day, who, more than any other figure in the bracket, truly inspires me. I am tremendously moved by her awesome wisdom, her prickly wit, and her total irreverence for the system -- her ability to be completely herself, both faithful and rebellious at the same time. At age 75, she got arrested for protesting in support of the United Farm Workers' Union (see the awesome picture here: http://www.jimandnancyforest.com/2005/01/09/remembering/). Two things not explicitly mentioned in Heidi's wonderful blog that captivate me about DD: 1) She chose always to live in solidarity with the poor, because she felt it necessary for true compassion, and 2) She was a staunch opponent of proselytizing at Catholic Worker Houses, because she felt that forcing people to hear a message of Jesus in order to get their supper was not in keeping with true charity. With my deep apologies to Demby, but I'm rooting for Dorothy to take the Golden Halo!
Two very inspiring individuals; I thank God for the witness of each. But I've been waiting three weeks to say, "Day! Day! All the way!!!"
I didn't know enough about Dorothy Day and sadly knew nothing of Bishop Demby, but where I find myself in making my choice is in my question about why Dorothy didn't stay within the Episcopal Church (and wikipedia does that annoying thing, calling it the Episcopalian church -- argh!). Anyway, I feel called to stay with the saint who worked within the church that has been with me since birth. I cannot imagine what it was like to work within a church as a segregated body, but thanks be to God and the goodness of people like Demby and Day, we know better today ... and strive to live into that knowledge still.
Had been looked forward to voting for Dorothy.
Problem is, when we read Lent Madness, if I may say, day by day, we learn about a Community of Saints in people we never knew. Denby deserves more recognition so, although Day will likely win, he get's my vote this day.
DD for me. Layperson, bohemian, convert to Christianity, "we are not content." 'Nuff said.
Having lived in the segregated South and felt even as child that it was an evil institution, I have great respect for Bishop Demby. However, my vote goes to Dorothy Day because of her "we are not content" statement. A tough choice, this one.
DD will always be known and revered. But Demby, in his quiet solid commitment to the Episcopal Church and 'black service organizations' should win this round of LM!
Day by day
After having coffee--and breakfast--I went with the Bishop. He, too, was a reformer, working to establish "schools, hospitals, orphanages," while attracting people to the Episcopal Church.
Besides, he's the underdog.
(And thank you for correcting "first bishop ordained..." to "first African-American bishop ordained..." in the introduction to the match-up.)
No disrespect to Doris, but the Holy Fool votes for the Good Bishop today. He has a height advantage in going to the hoop.
Two great candidates again, but I'm voting for Demby. Good grief, the poor guy can't even get a feast day to himself, but has to share it with the 2nd A-A bishop!
BTW I may be getting too facebookized, but man I wish there were like buttons for the comments.
"Like"
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It seems to me that there are many people who are drawn to a cause first, and then somehow discover God. Others choose first to follow God, and then go where that primary choice leads them. Obviously Dorothy Day was a good person who served the poor; but my vote goes with the Bishop whose decision was first to follow the Lord, wherever choice would lead him.
Well said.
Both are inspiring, but for me it was no contest. Dorothy Day gets my vote.
I believe the first African American Bishop was the Rt. Rev. James Theodore Holly who was consecrated in the late 1800's see
http://www.episcopalarchives.org/Afro-Anglican_history/exhibit/leadership/holly.php
I served at one time as interim at Bp/ Holly's old parish in New Haven, and can say that although he was consecrated by Episcopal bishops it was for an independently constituted church in Haiti and not for PECUSA.
I served at one time as interim at Bp/ Holly's old parish in New Haven, and can say that although he was consecrated by Episcopal bishops it was for an independently constituted church in Haiti and not for PECUSA. The cited article is a little misleading on this point.
The Diocese of Louisiana is working on a reconciliation event apropos of slavery and our part in the Black experience in America, so I am aware of the invaluable work of black persons who worked within the Jim Crow system. I am grateful to all of them and glad to have a chance to say so.
T0ugh choice today - but my vote goes to the Episcopalian!
It is the season of purple, which is also the color of related to the Episcopacy, so my vote goes to the Rt. Rev. Edward Thomas Demby, the Episcopal Episcopalian who I suspect would be quite happy with the practical work his former employer Paul Quinn College is doing in relation to hunger & food desert area issues here in Dallas. (I think PQC has the only football field turned farm in Texas.)
I met DD in person. She was awesome. I bet Bishop Demby was just as awesome. The Catholic Worker movement was and stil is truly ecumenical. Lets not hold her switch to the RC against her.
Here is yet another case of putting a person up too soon.
However, we have a Dorothy Day house in our town and it has an active ministry to the needy of our area. Dorothy's witness was and remains profound.
Go, Dorothy!
Your point of this perhaps being a case of putting a person up too soon is I think well taken. Although the Episcopal Church considers Dorothy Day a "person worthy of commemoration" she has no feast day and is ineligible for such consideration until at least 2030.
Derek Olson has published some information on the explosion of commemorations in the Episcopal Church. His materials show that during the period from 1957 to 2008 about 100 new persons were nominated for commemoration for an average of about 2 new names per year. During the period from 2008-2011 about 125 names were brought forward, or about 42 new names per year.
Why the big rush to suddenly commemorate people, especially as his numbers show persons mostly from recent times.
There are probably so many too recent people in Lent Madness to address the complaints of too many white men . . . I'd like to toss out the social worker types who have only a tenuous connection to religion, but even the SEC can't please everyone all of the time.
"In 1918 he became the Suffragan Bishop for Colored Work in Arkansas and the Providence of the Southwest." Should it be "Province" of the Southwest? Just asking.
Fr. Yaw had a limitation of words for Demby's bio. Demby was Suffragan Bishop solely over "Colored work" only in the Diocese of AK and the SW Province. Bishop John Burgess was the first Afro-American Bishop over the Diocese of MA in 1970...no racial limitations/barriers as was the case with Demby. Yaw wrote according to set guidelines/restrictions determined by the SEC. Hope this makes thngs clearer.
Yes, Aleathia, you make a great point. I think when you describe a person's contribution by stating his offices and titles that you keep that person's life at a distance and make it hard for the audience to get a sense of who he was and what his life was like. As we see in the comments from people who actually me the individuals, an actual comment in a specific event often lends persuasive substance and charcter to a person who is otherwise only a name. It is difficult in a limited space to make those choices, agreed.
Probably those who are young and/or did not grow up in a segrated world, have no idea how racially divided the Episcopal Church was.
Tough choice. I'm drawn to DD, particularly because of the income inequality that we face today, but have different views on Just War than she apparently did. Denby was a non-violent protest against racism just in being who he was and showing up every day. My vote for Denby.
Had to vote for Denby. Think of the times in which he lived and the struggles he would have had to face. I suspect there were times he was a very lonely man and would have been the target of people both many whites as he was challenging segregation and and a good number of blacks as he was representing the Episcopal Church in the face of many who would have been born slaves and children of former slaves. As well, he didn't have the ways to rally support that Dorothy Day did and in terms of segregation, his struggles did not have the numerical, media and inter-racial support that later people like Rosa Parkes and Martin Luther King Jr. had to strengthen them in their struggles. This is not to take away from Dorothy Day but I believe Denby persevered and succeeded in a much greater struggle against forces of darkness.