DeKoven Day

The Feast of Blessed James DeKoven was last celebrated March 22, 2023. Observing this Feast Day has been one of DeKoven Center’s longest traditions.

The 2023 Events

Service | 11:00 a.m. | Collegiate Chapel of St. John

Celebration of the Holy Eucharist with Celebrant the Rev. Geoffrey Ward, President of DeKoven Center and Rector of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, River Hills, Homilist the Rt. Rev. Jeffrey Lee, Bishop Provisional of Milwaukee. The organist was Hunter Erickson.

Memorial at DeKoven’s Tomb

Following the Eucharist, procession to DeKoven’s tomb outside the Chapel for a Memorial and Prayers including a Color Guard an Bagpiper from St. John’s Northwestern Academies.

Fellowship Meal | 12:30 p.m.

A fellowship meal in the Taylor Hall dining room. Dr. John Magerus provided a presentation on his work of writing a full biography of James DeKoven.

DeKoven Center Tour | 2:00 p.m.

Opportunity to tour The DeKoven Center campus. In addition to the historic buildings, the tour will pause at the new Memorial Benches to offer prayers of thanksgiving for those who have offered service at Racine College and The DeKoven Center over the decades.

Pictures by Jarvis Lawson from the 2023 service here.

Why James DeKoven?

James DeKoven was the most widely known and respected leader of the Anglo-Catholic movement of the nineteenth century. He was influenced by the Oxford Movement (Tractarians) and brought many of their principles, especially the doctrine of the Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist, to the attention of the Episcopal Church. Under his leadership as Warden of Racine College (the predecessor of DeKoven Center), the choir was vested, candles were allowed on the altar of St. John's Chapel and the Holy Eucharist and the Daily Offices were regular celebrated. He passionately defended eucharistic adoration and pleaded for comprehensiveness in doctrine and worship. His addresses to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 1871 and 1874 are considered to be some of the most significant moments of oratory in the history of General Convention. While a stringent canon on ritual was avoided through DeKoven's advocacy, his defense of ritualism is today reflected in many practices common today in the Episcopal Church. DeKoven died in Racine in 1879 and buried on the grounds of the DeKoven Center. In 1964, his life was commemorated by the addition of March 22, the day of his buial, to the Episcopal Church calendar of the church year.

More on DeKoven

DeKoven was born in Middletown, Connecticut on Sept. 19, 1831. He graduated from Columbia College in 1851 and as valedictorian at the General Theological Seminary in 1854. DeKoven was ordained deacon on Aug. 6, 1854, and priest on Sept. 23, 1855. In 1854 he became professor of ecclesiastical history at Nashotah House and rector of St. John Chrysostom at nearby Delafield, Wisconsin. In 1858 he became warden of St. John's Hall, a preparatory school in Delafield. DeKoven became warden of Racine College in 1859 and served there until his death.

DeKoven was known as the “American Keble.” He was nominated Bishop of Massachusetts in 1872 and Milwaukee in 1874. He was elected but not consecrated Bishop of Illinois in 1875 because he did not receive the necessary consents from a sufficient number of diocesan standing committees in the Episcopal Church. He was never made a bishop. DeKoven died in Racine on Mar. 19, 1879.