“Doctor, what have we got: A republic or a monarchy?” Ben Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Christ Church was founded in 1695 by members of the Church of England. It was small, and wooden, and you could place your palm on the ceiling. Fifty years later, the church was the tallest building in the Colonies, holding the record longer than the Empire State Building eventually would. London had been ruined by its own city plans in the Great London Fire, afterward, the Georgian architecture style boomed. Christ Church was the finest example of it in America. It had a door set, set aside just for the king; it had a pew, set aside just for the king. The king would never come, but revolution did. After victory, the King’s Door was renamed the President’s Door, but the president would never come either— George Washington used the same door as everyone else, critical of anything that evoked the self-inflation of the monarchy.
In colonial times, the church was the epicenter of social life, and with social life comes political life too. Commonly known attendees of the church include Revolutionary War leaders like George Washington, Robert Morris, Benjamin Franklin, and Betsy Ross. The rector Jacob Duche led the opening prayers for the First Continental Congress in 1774. In 1785, Anglicans had their own convention where they elected Reverend William White, the rector of Christ Church, as their president. He, along with other church leaders, drafted the church’s new constitution. White was one of the clergy who would work to create the draft of the first American Prayer Book. He was consecrated in England. Though he had sworn to the king, William White publicly sided with the revolution after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. After the war, he released a pamphlet with the foundations of thought for the Episcopal church. He suggested a radical, and eventually adopted reform, of including lay people in the church’s decision making bodies. He became the first Episcopal Bishop of Pennsylvania, the first Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal church, and was foundational in establishing a religion independent of England. He continued to serve at Christ Church, and he is buried in our chancel.
“Human rights can only be assured among a virtuous people. The general government… can never be in danger of denigrating into a monarchy, an oligarchy, an aristocracy, or any despotic or oppressive form so long as there is any virtue in the body of the people.” -George Washington
“There are no kings in America./ Only gilded men we can topple/ again and again.” – Alieen Cassinetto