Charles Edward Cheney

Charles Edward Cheney (born Feb. 12, 1836, Canandaigua, N.Y., U.S.—died Nov. 15, 1916, Chicago) was a controversial American clergyman who helped found the Reformed Episcopal Church.

Cheney became rector of Christ Church, Chicago, in 1860, the year he was ordained a priest in the Protestant Episcopal Church. A pronounced evangelical, he joined others in signing the “Chicago Protest” against “unprotestantizing” tendencies in the church, issued on Feb. 18, 1869. Brought to trial before an ecclesiastical court for omitting the word “regeneration” from the baptismal office of the Book of Common Prayer, he was convicted and suspended. After a second trial he was deposed for continuing to officiate when under suspension, but a civil court overruled the deposition. His parish followed him when he united with the Reformed Episcopal Church on its organization in 1873. Elected missionary bishop of the Northwest, he was consecrated in December 1873; in 1878 his title was changed to bishop of the synod of Chicago. He continued to serve as rector of Christ Church and as bishop until his death.