This has been a challenging week for Progressive Christian author and Episcopalian Diana Butler Bass.
“I just went to YouTube to watch a video on how to pronounce a Korean phrase and had to watch an ad for [Virginia gubernatorial candidate] Glenn Youngkin. He is freaking everywhere and I hate it. Hate it,” the Duke University PhD in religious studies fumed to her more than 50,000 Twitter followers.
In today’s election, Bass writes that GOP candidate Glenn Youngkin is “creepy” and “a wolf in fleece clothing.” Maybe worst of all, she alleges: Anglicans are hiding behind the curtain.
A church historian, Bass doesn’t offer policy critique or a direct criticism of the fleece vest-clad Republican businessman. Instead, she questions religious connections that she believes place the candidate in uncomfortable proximity to charismatic-influenced church renewal.
“I find myself with questions. Worrisome questions about Youngkin’s campaign, about how the particular practices and political twists of Holy Trinity Brompton have found their way to Virginia’s governor’s race,” Bass wrote October 29 in her substack newsletter The Cottage about the large evangelical Church of England parish that Youngkin once attended while in London.
Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) is widely known for launching the Alpha Course, an evangelistic ministry emphasizing personal encounter with the Holy Spirit. It has spread far beyond the United Kingdom or Anglican circles. Alpha, HTB, and Vicar Nicky Gumble appear to be the primary points of Bass’ concern, although she also makes mention of charismatic-influenced Episcopalians in general, name-checking Truro Church of Fairfax, Virginia and The Falls Church (now Anglican) in the eponymous Virginia suburb.
Bass has a significant social media following in progressive Christian circles both in mainline Protestant denominations and in the Emergent Church movement (she recently co-taught an online course with author and Emergent Church guru Brian McLaren on Christian response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001). Why she would be preoccupied with an off-year gubernatorial election is initially unclear.
I just went to YouTube to watch a video on how to pronounce a Korean phrase and had to watch an ad for Glenn Youngkin.
— Diana Butler Bass (@dianabutlerbass) November 1, 2021
He is freaking everywhere and I hate it. Hate it.
Bass says that Youngkin “isn’t being straightforward about his connections, his intentions, and his political agenda. Youngkin is shaped by a religion that, over the decades, has slowly and surely given its soul to Trump Republicanism, revealing it[s] worst motives of inequality, racism, and authoritarian order.”
The former president doesn’t appear anywhere near the Youngkin campaign, however, which has messaging centering upon mostly local concerns. That, Bass insists, is because the candidate has “learned to cloak whatever may be off-putting or seem extreme regarding his faith in regard to politics. He knows how to speak to the secular world and how to use power. The fleece, the smile, the genteel ‘Anglican roots,’ all serve to smooth over an exclusivist and literalist faith, right-wing political activism, and its theo-political quest for the Kingdom of God on earth. It is Christian nationalism with a human face, and carrying a prayer book to boot.”
Youngkin’s congregation, Holy Trinity Church (HTC) in upscale suburban McLean, is independent, although — possibly uniquely for a non-denominational church — it has a vestry, was pastored for several years by Church of England clergy and adheres to the 39 Articles. I visited on a Sunday morning several years ago and found it to be welcoming, upbeat and evangelistically vibrant: consistent with the Alpha course which it was structured around (they also had excellent snacks). It does have Anglican roots, but doesn’t claim an Anglican identity: anyone unfamiliar with Anglican Christianity wouldn’t detect those roots in an otherwise generically evangelical worship service.
Bass doesn’t have any direct experience with HTC, but she passes along a comment from one of her readers who was upset one Sunday morning to see Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) shaking someone’s hand in the lobby. It was traumatic enough that there was a “visceral reaction” and the reader did not return.
Youngkin served for a time as Senior Warden (the church’s chief lay officer) at HTC. The church had the support of Holy Trinity Brompton (which is Anglican) but due to the experimental nature of the plant and its U.S location, a decision was made early on to be nondenominational.
HTB in London is vibrant enough that church liberals have tried to throw up roadblocks to the church “re-seeding” old CoE parishes with young families (liberals would rather sell church buildings and have the proceeds distributed throughout a diocese).
To what extent this has any relevance on Youngkin’s candidacy or potential governorship is unclear, but Bass herself is certain, quoting Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
If there’s anyone who a liberal Episcopalian like Bass fears, it’s apparently a secret Anglican.
[UPDATE]: According to the Virginia Department of Elections, Glenn Youngkin has been elected Governor of Virginia. He will be sworn in as the 74th governor on January 15, 2022.
Comment by Russell WOODGATES on November 2, 2021 at 9:51 am
I view Bass’s boilerplate message as an opportunistic hit job, rather than a serious call-to-arms against the supposed dangers of “hidden Anglicanism.”
Her role as a blogger cum reactionary “Episcoclast” warrior for wokeness depends on her ability to pounce on fresh topics for exposure. The Youngkin ads provided just that.
On this All Saints Day, I see the fresh ghost of Mort Sahl standing behind her.
Comment by Mike on November 2, 2021 at 12:36 pm
What would you expect from a liberal? She does not have Biblical reasons for her stance, just her personal prejudices.
Comment by james lung on November 2, 2021 at 1:59 pm
Yet another reason to pray Youngkin wins.
Comment by David S. on November 2, 2021 at 4:28 pm
A quick perusal of her Twitter feed indicates that like FAR, FAR too many people, her politics has become her religion and she has joined the left’s version of the modern Caesar cult. The sad thing about people like her is that she knows better, but she just demonstrates what many an individual has observed about the times we live in…professing themselves to be wise, they have become fools. Her Twitter feed expresses the exact reason, why I could no longer stand and am no longer a member of a mainline denomination. But, at the same time, there are many an evangelical denomination that I don’t think I could be a member of these days either, despite the fact, that I am theologically in alignment with Evangelicalism and specifically, historic Reformed Christianity.
Comment by Tom on November 2, 2021 at 5:28 pm
Well, as long as we’re quoting Matthew, there is this:
7 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Comment by Bill on November 2, 2021 at 6:34 pm
I remember Butler-Bass for our days together at Duke more than thirty years ago. I was working on an M. Div. while she completed her PhD. In those days, she seemed somewhat moderate and thoughtful. I don’t know how or why she veered off course, but her comments only prove that secularists have infiltrated the progressive left within the church. What is their goal? To secularize the church in order to marginalize her voice and witness as the culture becomes more secular. Why else would she fear Youngkin, a man who holds fast to the historic faith of the church?
Comment by Dan W on November 3, 2021 at 8:41 am
Post election – Can we get Butler Bass to oppose all of the conservative candidates in the 2022 elections? I wonder if she was against the ATL Braves in the World series? Wait, of course she was. All “the woke” were against the Braves in 2021. : (
Comment by David S. on November 3, 2021 at 11:09 am
Great irony that will probably be absolutely lost on her, is if you review her Twitter feed of the past few days, she retweeted something about the whole QAnon conspiracy crowd and yet, she then engages in the exact same thing, more or less, regarding Youngkin and Manchin. Sadly, the combination of Obama, followed by Trump, broke a lot of people on both sides of the aisle.
Comment by John Kenyon on November 3, 2021 at 11:48 am
One insight. Within the Church the liberal v, conservative theological debate (authority of the Bible) does not reach into political campaigns, at least not in the media that I follow. But Youngkin ran openly as a Christian with conservative moral values shared across the board of races, ethnicities, nationalities and even religions. It was a joy that he won in Virginia.
Comment by Dennis Crowley on November 4, 2021 at 11:24 am
If this woman wrote negative things about me- I would wear her comments as a “badge of honor.”
Comment by Jay Collins on November 4, 2021 at 4:33 pm
Juicy Ecumenism is really reaching here by finding admittedly partisan-leaning Episcopalians to demonstrate how upsetting Glenn Youngkin’s win is for the ‘left.’ The author would do well to remember a) Episcopalians are Anglicans, and, so, it is somewhat strange to read this article as if the two were somehow at odds (the article should just recognise that there are Anglicans who are not a part of the Anglican Communion to which TEC belongs); and the author should know that b) Youngkin is a more socially centrist Republican. He supports legal abortion in the cases of saving the woman’s life, rape, and incest. He opposes the Texas anti-abortion law that is before SCOTUS. He also said that his religious views do not impact his stance on marriage. He said he supports same-sex marriage as “legally acceptable” and that “[he], as governor, would support it.”
Comment by Jeffrey Walton on November 5, 2021 at 1:47 pm
Hello Jay, yes, all Episcopalians are Anglicans (although not all Anglicans are Episcopalians). This piece isn’t chiefly about Glenn Youngkin — it’s about Diana Butler Bass (and it was published before the election). If anyone wants to read further about Youngkin, there are other outlets specializing in that political analysis and commentary. IRD’s focus is upon the social witness of churches, agencies, officials and prominent pastors/theologians — what they speak into the public square. When an outspoken progressive Christian like DBB imagines conspiratorial designs simply because Youngkin has secondary connections to some Anglicans, that’s our interest (there’s plenty of this stuff on the far right, too!)
Comment by Ryan S on November 5, 2021 at 10:16 pm
Bass says that Youngkin “isn’t being straightforward about his connections, his intentions, and his political agenda…[He has] learned to cloak whatever may be off-putting or seem extreme regarding his faith in regard to politics.”
She doesn’t know Mr. Youngkin and hence cannot possibly know whether these declarative statements about his intentions and motivations are accurate. And yet the ease with which she makes them, and her apparent self-assurance in doing so, is … well, revealing.
Comment by Donald Bryant on November 6, 2021 at 6:43 am
You’re not sure of what extent this [his participation in the life of an Evangelical church] has any relevance on Youngkin’s candidacy or potential governorship is unclear? He is a man shaped by Evangelicalism, it seems. He continues in the line of Evangelical influence in the 2016 election. This has not diminished, as so many of the elite and even some Republican elite, wish. Evangelicals continue to demonstrate that they are deeply connected to the root system of the American people, contrary to pundits, pollsters, and sophisticated academy. Its death has been greatly overstated.
Comment by John Smithe on November 8, 2021 at 6:23 am
Perhaps she sees herself as a modern day Sybil Ludington warning us that the CoE is coming?
Comment by Eric Lytle on November 8, 2021 at 2:27 pm
You refer to Bass as a “historian.” Having read many of her books, I would say that’s a misnomer. Like many people on the left, she repeats such ” facts” as “millions” of people being executed for witchcraft. That Rachel Evans character who was (briefly) the darling of ex-evangelicals played very fast and loose with facts in her best-selling books, but Evans had only a BA (in English) from humble little Bryan College. It’s harder to excuse the historical lies in the writings of someone with a PhD from Duke. She’s no historian, she’s a propagandist, and her contempt for conservatives colors everything she writes. Truly amazing that she has 500,000 followers. I know she identifies as a Christian, but I wonder if she’s aware that one of the Ten Commandments forbids false witness, and the constant smearing of conservatives would definitely qualify as false witness.
She’s like every other ex-evangelical I’ve ever known, bitter and angry. They may believe that they became better people once they became woke, but they ought to get a second opinion on that.
Comment by Kimberly Pinkston on September 28, 2023 at 10:45 pm
Well, it’s 2 years on and these commenters are obviously wrong and the author has been shown to be on the right track as born out by Youngin’s agenda. An agenda covered in smarm, attempted by a very smarmy millionaire, but divisive and dangerous none the less. # Wolf in fleece clothing is an apt description.