On America: A Collection

Over the years, Covenant and The Living Church have featured reflections on the complex, often ambiguous relationship between Christian faith and patriotism (particularly within the context of the United States). For any expression of Christianity this is often a fraught relationship, but all the more so within the Anglican tradition, where the Church of England’s established church DNA is discernible in various ways across the Communion. This is readily apparent in the Episcopal Church, where Washington, DC’s cathedral church of St. Peter and St. Paul is known as the “National Cathedral,” and where Independence Day is a major feast.

In the last few years, controversy has arisen about how to best tell the American story, and particularly the formative role of slavery and its ongoing effects in the American landscape. I, personally, believe we ought to face these issues head-on. There can be no national unity, no true domestic peace that is not rooted in justice and in truth-telling. But regardless of where we wind up coming down on the issue of the proper approach to history, Independence Day affords us an opportunity for reflection on the country we have, on where we have been, and perhaps most especially, on the sort of country we could and should be. The following collection of essays from the Covenant archives are offered in the hope that they can foster this.

— Eugene R. Schlesinger, editor of Covenant

Our citizenship in the kingdom of God