Charles Chapman Grafton

Charles Chapman Grafton (1830-1912) was an Anglo-Catholic bishop of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and a pioneer of ecumenical relations between the Anglican and Orthodox churches. Co-founder with R.M. Benson of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (Cowley Fathers), he oversaw the controversial 1903 consecration service that included Old Catholic and Russian Orthodox bishops, marking an unprecedented moment in Anglican-Orthodox relations.

Grafton exemplifies Anglo-Catholic ecclesiology and the conviction that the Anglican Church embodies Catholic faith and practice. His ecumenical efforts anticipated mid-20th-century developments in Anglican-Orthodox dialogue. He is venerated in Anglo-Catholic circles as a champion of religious community life and visible church unity. His legacy includes the continuing presence of the Cowley Fathers in the Anglican tradition.

Born in 1830, Grafton was ordained to the priesthood and became increasingly devoted to high-church Anglo-Catholic practice and monastic religious life. In 1866, he and R.M. Benson founded the Society of St. John the Evangelist (commonly known as the Cowley Fathers), one of the first sustained Anglican monastic communities in the post-Reformation era. Elected Bishop of Fond du Lac in 1888, Grafton served for 24 years, establishing the see as a center of Anglo-Catholic theology and practice in the American Midwest. His most significant ecumenical achievement occurred in 1903 when he arranged his own episcopal consecration to include bishops from the Old Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church—a bold and controversial gesture that symbolized his conviction that visible Christian unity was possible across traditional denominational boundaries. He died on June 20, 1912, having profoundly influenced the trajectory of American Anglicanism toward Catholic faith and practice.

• Bishop
• Ecumenist