on October 25, 1885. On June 16, 1886, he was ordained a deacon in the Episcopal Church, and became a priest on June 8, 1887. He then served at Grace Church in Boston from 1887 until 1890, and finally, he helped organize an inner-city ministry, the Church of the Carpenter, where he served for four years. Bliss’s thoughts on Christian Socialism Once Bliss adopted the ideas of Christian Socialism he began to create a very clear distinct understanding of what it meant. While Bliss recognized that the label Christian Socialism on its surface seemed to be a paradox, he believed that "christianity and socialism were not only compatible, but that socialism was the natural economic expression of christian life." He sought to rid socialism of its philosophical materialism because he believed Christianity was the most effective way to bring socialism to fruition in America. As Bliss mentioned in a speech, his socialist radicalism was grounded not in Marx but in the teachings of Jesus Christ more than anything else. Despite this understanding of Christianity, Bliss originally believed that Christians did not necessarily have to pick a particular political party or organization in order to be genuine socialist. He did argue, however, that if Christians were to truly live according to the Gospel and the words of Jesus, they would intuitively advocate for a socialist society in America. Moreover, the socialist aspect of Christian Socialism for Bliss was not hampered by the word Christian preceding it. He defined socialism as “that mode of social life which, based upon the recognition of the natural brotherhood and unity of mankind would have land and capital owned by the community collectively, and operated cooperatively for the good of all. He was not interested in merely implementing more state intervention or cooperatives. He, like the scientific socialist, believed that in order to create a just society, where the children of God were all treated with dignity and respect, it would require a complete overhaul of the economic system. Reform was merely a halfway measure for Bliss. Therefore for Bliss, Christian socialism was a fundamentally socialist ideology rooted in Christian principles. He hated the idea that people who tried to apply Christianity to social problems would even try to apply the label Christian Socialism to their work. Scholarly dispute Bliss’s understanding of Christian Socialism and its fit with “genuine political socialism” is a point of contention,