High Church

The terms “high church” and “high churchman” began to appear in the late seventeenth century to describe those who opposed the Calvinist-Puritan wing of the Church of England. In colonial America a high church party emerged in Connecticut when four Congregationalist ministers decided their ordinations were invalid, and went to England to be ordained deacons and priests. After the American Revolution, a new high church party emerged under the leadership of John Henry Hobart of New York. This party stressed adherence to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church. They stressed the necessity of the historic episcopate as the primary guarantee of apostolic succession; the threefold order of ministry-bishops, priests, and deacons; the careful and faithful use of the Prayer Book; and the two dominical sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. They emphasized the spiritual presence of Christ in the meal, and insisted that baptisms should be done in the church and not in the home. Most high churchmen did not participate in ecumenical activities or organizations. high churchmen stressed the ministry and sacraments of the church as the primary means of grace. See Hobart, John Henry; see Low Church; see Yale Converts.