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Philander Chase Window
 After the War of Independence, the United States began a rapid westward expansion. But the Episcopal Church, still recovering from lost clergy, revenue, and infrastructure, concentrated on salvaging the church in the East; and for many years, any missionary activity or western advance was purely incidental. What was accomplished in the West in the early 1800’s was due to the work of a few exceptional pioneers, among them Philander Chase. Philander was the youngest of 15 children born to a family of remarkable pioneers self-sufficient, intelligent, and exceptionally well educated. Philander became an Episcopalian while attending Dartmouth College, and entered the ministry soon afterward, preaching to settlers and Indians as an itinerant missionary in New York State, founding the first Protestant parish in the Louisianan Territory, and serving a parish in Connecticut, before heading to Ohio in the spring of 1817. It was a harrowing journey, and inspired his lifelong motto, “The Lord will provide.” Traveling across melting lake ice, flooded prairies, swollen rivers, and muddy roads that were virtually impassable, he eventually arrived in central Ohio and began organizing parishes (preaching in both Springfield and Dayton). He became Ohio’s first bishop and also led the effort to found a western school to train settlers and Indians for ministry. He poured his heart into founding Kenyon College, beginning the school on his farm, with his own funds and backbreaking labor. Eventually it was expanded with the help of friends in England (especially Lords Kenyon and Bexley, for whom Bexley Hall Seminary was named). When the work was completed, a bitter power struggle ensued, after which Philander resigned. He moved to Michigan, where he set up a preaching circuit and traded with the Indians who came by his house. Finally, when he was 60 years old, the diocese of Illinois called Philander as their bishop, and he started over one last time, with one church, four priests, and two deacons for the entire state, traveling through the wilderness once more, to preach in cabins, blacksmith’s shops, and barns until his death in 1852. Philander Chase was the Great Pioneer Bishop, a hero of the American frontier. He represents the missionary impulse of the Episcopal Church to the Western United States and the arrival of the Episcopal Church in Ohio. The building behind him is Kenyon College, and in his hands he holds the articles of incorporation for the diocese of Ohio.
Like Stars Appearing: The Story of the Stained Glass
Windows of St. George's Episcopal Church, Dayton, Ohio | |||
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