This is the story of an Anglican Religious Community established in the parish of Cowley, Oxford, England in 1866—the Society of S. John the Evangelist. From their geographic location they soon became known as “The Cowley Fathers”. Four years later they expanded their work in America, first in Boston and later in Philadelphia where they were invited to take charge of S. Clement’s Church. Soon after their arrival there was suspicion and misunderstanding on the part of many in the Diocese of Pennsylvania who did not accept this mostly foreign group of priests from England. The deep compassion for the poor and marginalized, the relief work in the face of tragedy and disaster won their critics over and eventually opposition ceased. The Cowley Fathers whose influence attracted the poor and wealthy soon spread beyond the confines of the parish. Their ministry through teaching, preaching, retreats, missions and spiritual counsel attracted many. Interest in the Society grew. By the end of the 19th century there were branch houses in India, South Africa and Scotland. This book offers a unique account of the SSJE Community in Philadelphia and the parish they served.

The Society of St John the Evangelist, otherwise known as the Cowley Fathers, was the first men’s religious order to be founded in the Church of England since the Reformation, as a result of the spread and influence of the Oxford Movement and its Anglo-Catholic spirituality in the 19th century. Established in Oxford in 1866, its charismatic founder, Richard Meux Benson worked closely with American priests and just four years later a congregation was founded in Massachusetts that flourishes to this day. The charism of the order embraced high regard of theology with practical service, fostered by an emphasis on prayer and personal holiness. Cowley, a poor and rapidly expanding village on the outskirts of Oxford, provided ample opportunity for service. At its height, the English congregation had houses in Oxford (now St Stephen’s House) and Westminster where figures such as C S Lewis sought spiritual direction. Now no longer operating as a community in Britain, this definitive and comprehensive history records its significant contribution to Anglicanism then and now.

A comprehensive study of female religious life in medieval Tuscany and the development of new categories of religious women.

A biography of George Congreve showing his contribution to the Society of St John the Evangelist (SSJE) and the Church of England by describing his teaching and quoting much of his unpublished or out-of-print writing.

This study explores the origin and development of the American social welfare system. It demonstrates that the system of orphanages, child-placing agencies, reformatories, juvenile courts, and child guidance clinics established in Victorian Boston was a foundation for the New Deal and remains the basis of contemporary social work with the young.

Jervis Sharp Zimmerman was born in Harvey, Illinois in 1922. He graduated from the University of Illinois with High Honors in English and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Thereafter he prepared for the Christian ministry at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and was ordained in 1945 by the Presbytery of Chicago. He subsequently earned a Masters degree in counseling psychology at the University of Chicago. In 1953, after studying at Berkeley Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut he was ordained deacon and priest by the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut in which he continues serving. From 1954 to l967 he was Rector of Christ Church, West Haven, Connecticut where Oliver Prescott served in l866 and l867. It was this fact which sparked the authors interest in Prescott which led to this biography. Prescott was an early and ardent advocate for the Catholic revival in the Episcopal Church. As a priest he was in constant difficulty with his bishop, both for his doctrine and his liturgical usage. With his protg, Charles Grafton, he was an early member of the Society of St.John the Evangelist, the first modern monastic community for men in the Church of England.

T. J. Jackson Lears draws on a wealth of primary sources — sermons, diaries, letters — as well as novels, poems, and essays to explore the origins of turn-of-the-century American antimodernism. He examines the retreat to the exotic, the pursuit of intense physical or spiritual experiences, and the search for cultural self-sufficiency through the Arts and Crafts movement. Lears argues that their antimodern impulse, more pervasive than historians have supposed, was not "simple escapism," but reveals some enduring and recurring tensions in American culture. "It's an understatement to call No Place of Grace a brilliant book. . . . It's the first clear sign I've seen that my generation, after marching through the '60s and jogging through the '70s might be pausing to examine what we've learned, and to teach it."—Walter Kendrick, Village Voice "One can justly make the claim that No Place of Grace restores and reinterprets a crucial part of American history. Lears's method is impeccable."—Ann Douglas, The Nation