by Brandon Beck

I recently learned about a book important to our Episcopal heritage. The Rev. Dr. Robert Tobin, chaplain at The Chapel of Sts. Peter and Paul at Old Royal Naval College inside the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site, published Privilege and Prophecy: Social Activism in the Post-War Episcopal Church with Oxford University Press in 2022.

The Rev. Dr. Tobin draws upon extensive archival research to bring us this brilliant book in which he describes the people and situations that led The Episcopal Church into liberation theology and practice. He carefully reminds that The Episcopal Church has been and remains a catalyst for progressive change, but that doesn’t mean that The Episcopal Church has done everything right, fast enough, or well enough. He notes that the great progress in The Episcopal Church sometimes came at the neglect or oppression of black, female, LGBT, and working-class Episcopalians.

I believe that those of us who are putting ourselves daily into the world in ways that push against the status quo need inspiration in order to keep going. We must read ourselves into our continued commitment to justice and peace. We must read ourselves into our continued commitment to actively respect the dignity of every human being. Seeing ourselves in the lives of others, in the stories of people who did this work before us, can and should be a source of raison d’etre and will to keep on keeping on.

The Rev. Dr. Tobin provides the stories we need to hear. I commend his book Privilege and Prophecy to you as you seek purpose and joy in the work you do as change agents.

The Episcopal Church attracts people who know how to acknowledge their privilege and how to leverage that privilege for social justice action. The Episcopal Church learns from the past and grows in new directions for justice and peace. The people of The Episcopal Church recognize that the inherent dignity of every human being means that every person has some privilege in their own experience and offers that personally privileging experience for the good of others. The people of The Episcopal Church lift each other up and recognize Jesus in everyone, putting no one down.

My words are idealistic, I know. Of course, not every single person who calls themselves Episcopalian can be of the same mind. But we are a people of common prayer, so we have a common intention through that. I hope that as you read The Rev. Dr. Tobin’s Privilege and Prophecy that you will be inspired to continue to work for justice and peace and will find new ways within yourself to understand the dignity inherent in every other person of our shared world.