Bishop Joseph Blount Cheshire: His Life and Work

by Lawrence Foushee London

Two years after his visit to England Bishop Cheshire married Miss Elizabeth Lansdale Mitchell, of Beltsville, Maryland. She was the daughter of Rev. Walter A. Mitchell, an Episcopal clergyman. The marriage proved to be happy and successful in every way. Mrs. Cheshire was a splendid mother to the Bishop's children, and they all became devoted to her.

When a friend heard that Bishop Cheshire was to be married, he remarked to the Bishop that with his large family he needed a wife. With his characteristic honesty the Bishop replied: "I don't need any such thing. My daughters take the best care of me and want me to have the best of everything. I don't need a wife; I am marrying again just because I want to."[38]

From the General Convention of 1895 to that of 1931, Bishop Cheshire attended every triennial meeting of this body. In the first three or four conventions, he did not take an active part in the discussions of the House of Bishops. For that matter, he never participated as prominently in its deliberations as some of the other bishops. At the 1895 convention he was appointed to the committees on the Admission of New Dioceses and on the Consecration of Bishops, and at the next triennial meeting he was made a member of the Joint Commission on the Revision of the Constitution and Canons. This last appointment pleased him, since it was the kind of work for which he was well prepared. His legal training influenced his partiality for this type of work. In 1904 he was appointed to the Committee on Canons, on which he served for almost every convention until his death. As a member of this committee he made his most important contribution to the work of the General Convention. It will be recalled that it was in this capacity that he had done his best work in the diocesan conventions. From time to time he was made a member of other regular and special committees.

When Bishop Cheshire assumed the office of bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina, he felt it his duty to exercise the full authority of that office. In deciding upon this course of action he did not intend to be arbitrary or despotic in administering the Diocese, although at times some clergymen and laymen seemed to think so. But when they became better acquainted with him and his methods, they admired and respected him the more. The Bishop had a forthright, and sometimes decidedly blunt, manner of speaking, which, to those who did not know him so well, seemed arbitrary or overbearing. He had disagreements with his clergymen, but they felt that they could always count upon receiving a fair hearing from him. When the Bishop realized he was in error upon any point, no one was quicker than he to admit it.

In 1895 Bishop Cheshire, for the first time in the history of the Diocese, issued to the clergy "Visitation Articles," as called for by a canon of the church. After employing them for a year he found they were useful and "calculated to make the visitations of the Bishop of more real value to the Clergy and to the people. The Bishop has for so long a time ceased to exert any real influence or control in the ordinary life and work of the parish in all parts of the United States, that the assertion of that authority, which in theory our Bishops are supposed to possess, is perhaps impracticable at present."[39] He thought that if the bishop would make himself acquainted with the affairs of each congregation during his visitation, it would strengthen the influence of the episcopate, and would go far towards the "breaking up of our present congregational parochialism." One of Bishop Cheshire's customs which endeared him to his people was that of calling upon the members of a congregation during his visitation. Of this practice he once remarked: "People like the attention and it makes Bishop and people feel nearer together, but in most cases they do not want very long visits."[40] The Bishop's keen understanding of human nature was one of his most notable qualities.

Bishop Cheshire thought that southern bishops had a great deal to be thankful for, particularly that in the South "as much as anywhere in the world, I believe, the Bishop may still be in some real and personal sense, the pastor of his flock, can live in familiar and confidential relations with his people." He deplored the tendency, which seemed to be growing in some quarters, of making the bishop simply an administrator of ecclesiastical affairs.

While Bishop Cheshire was in no sense a ritualist, or what is commonly known as high church, he believed in a strict adherence to the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer. He had a great reverence and admiration for the services of the Prayer Book, and consequently little patience with those clergymen who attempted to alter their order or length. He was not a dogmatic formalist, but was thoroughly convinced that the canons and rubrics of the church should be obeyed and not disregarded by those individuals who might take exception to them.

In a charge to his clergy on the subject of Public Worship, Bishop Cheshire pointed out that the church was established and is sustained by Christ for two purposes: "first, to be the depository and source of spiritual Truth and Power; and second, to bring men into living contact with that spiritual Truth and Power." The Prayer Book is a means by which the church can diffuse and extend the truth, and it is also a means of developing and conserving the influence of the church. In his opinion, extemporary methods of worship had a tendency to weaken and finally destroy the concept of common public worship. The public worship of the Episcopal Church was not left to individual whim or judgment, but was definitely prescribed. He maintained that the participation of the congregation in the services and sacraments of the church is its principal means of cultivating its oneness with Christ. The Bishop enjoined the clergy to follow the services as they were set down in the Prayer Book, and warned them that they would gain nothing, but rather would injure the church by seeking to make their services more attractive through short cuts or innovations.

In a Pastoral Letter to the clergy and laity of the Diocese, Bishop Cheshire further developed the subject of public worship and the use of the Prayer Book. He gave much sound instruction as to how the minister and congregation should conduct themselves in any of the church's services, particularly emphasizing the importance of correct kneeling and audible and intelligent responses. He stressed the value which the clergy and laity would receive from a regular observance of the feast days and fast days. The Bishop expressed his strong disapproval of decorating the church for any purpose other than "for God's honor." The sacred character of the church should not be sacrificed to gratify the vanity of men and women. He referred particularly to the extravagant excesses often indulged in when decorating the church for weddings.

This Pastoral Letter is just as applicable to churchmen today and is worthy of as much consideration from them as when it was first issued in 1912. It would be of great value to them to hear it read annually in the churches of the Diocese.