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The Anglican religion was established--meaning that taxes were collected to support the church and the parish handled poor relief. Scattered settlements and the lack of trained Anglican ministers --there were only 109 Anglican ministers in 1775--meant that piety was practiced mostly at home. Itinerant ministers encouraged parishioners to use the ''Book of Common Prayer'' for private prayer and devotion. This allowed Anglicans to lead an active and sincere religious life apart from formal church services. Private piety, however, weakened the Anglican Church, and what clergy there were were controlled by the laymen in the vestry. As a result Anglicans were unable to counter the [[First Great Awakening]], which created a large Baptist denomination.
The Anglican religion was established--meaning that taxes were collected to support the church and the parish handled poor relief. Scattered settlements and the lack of trained Anglican ministers --there were only 109 Anglican ministers in 1775--meant that piety was practiced mostly at home. Itinerant ministers encouraged parishioners to use the ''Book of Common Prayer'' for private prayer and devotion. This allowed Anglicans to lead an active and sincere religious life apart from formal church services. Private piety, however, weakened the Anglican Church, and what clergy there were were controlled by the laymen in the vestry. As a result Anglicans were unable to counter the [[First Great Awakening]], which created a large Baptist denomination.
James Blair (1655-1743) arrived in 1685 as an Episcopal missionary. He was a latitudinarian churchman, Whiggish advocate of colonial prerogatives, backstage political operator, and acting governor (1740-41), Most important, he founded and was president of the [[College of William and Mary]], which he designed to spread throughout America some of the Christian humanism that he learned in 17th century Scotland.
===Rise of the Baptists===
===Rise of the Baptists===