Church of England

Church of England. The presence of British bishops at the Council of Arles in 314 is evidence of the existence of an organized Church. British Christians were driven into the western parts of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons, who were converted by Celtic missionaries from Ireland and Scotland, and by the mission of St Augustine of Canterbury sent from Rome (597). Unification and organization of the Anglo-Saxon Church was achieved under Theodore of Tarsus, who summoned national ecclesiastical councils, divided dioceses, and encouraged learning. After a period of decline, Abp. Dunstan, St Ethelwold, and St Oswald initiated reform of the monasteries and cathedral chapters in accordance with contemporary European models. After the conquest by William I, the Norman age saw the removal of episcopal sees from remote villages to cities, the beginning of an outburst of building activity, and the reorganization of ecclesiastical administration. Most important of all, the royal separation of the ecclesiastical and civil courts opened the way for the entrance of the Roman canon law, the chief agent of Papal control in the W. Church. There were a number of disputes between the Church and State, notably about investiture and the limits of the royal power, but by the 13th cent. Papal power in England had become very great. Soon, however, with the accentuation of national self-consciousness on the one hand, and the Papal scandals of the Babylonian captivity and the Great Schism on the other, the exactions and policy of the Roman see became the subject of increasing criticism in England; there was, for instance, legislation to curtail the Papal practice of diverting the income of English benefices for the support of foreign ecclesiastics.

When in the 16th cent. the Tudor monarchs deemed it expedient to measure their strength against the Papacy, many elements in the nation were ready to support them. Evidence of religious yearning was represented among the learned by the humanist revolt against Scholasticism and among the literate by the purchase of newly-printed religious books and the expansion of domestic piety. The occasion of the Reformation was the famous ‘divorce’ of Henry VIII. The Convocations acknowledged the King to be the Supreme Head on earth of the Church of England, and a series of laws severed the financial, judicial, and administrative bonds between England and Rome. The monasteries were dissolved. Under Edward VI, Abp. T. Cranmer produced the First and Second Books of Common Prayer in 1549 and 1552. The advance to Protestantism was reversed under Mary. Upon the accession of Elizabeth I the Papal obedience was again repudiated, the Crown assumed the title of ‘Supreme Governor’, the second BCP with some changes became the service-book of the C of E, and the Thirty-Nine Articles its doctrinal formulary. The Elizabethan attempt to achieve a comprehensive national settlement was challenged both by RCs, who were sustained by missionary priests from Continental colleges, and Protestants who strove for change from within the Church. Under Charles I the ascendency of W. Laud and his endeavours to secure a higher standard of order in the Church sharpened Puritan criticism and made episcopacy and Anglicanism a subject of conflict in the Civil Wars. The victory of Parliament led first to a Presbyterian reform and then to Independency. With the Restoration of Charles II, the C of E again became the established Church and repressive measures were taken against dissenters. James II's attack on the C of E was largely responsible for his downfall.

After the Revolution of 1688, the C of E, weakened by the secession of the Nonjurors, settled to a period of quiescence. A limited toleration pacified the dissenters, theological disputes became unpopular, and the alliance of Church and State was a mutually defensive pact against all subversive forces. The Methodist revival was the parent both of a new Christian body and of Anglican Evangelicalism.

Latitudinarianism dominated the intellectual atmosphere until well into the 19th cent., which witnessed the foundation of new parishes and bishoprics and much administrative reform. The Oxford Movement laid new emphasis on the Catholic character of the established Church, but ceremonial novelties led to litigation and dispute. The Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919 (the Enabling Act) gave to the Church Assembly the power to prepare legislation for consideration by Parliament; in 1927 and 1928 Parliament rejected a revised BCP. Since the end of the Second World War (1945) there has been considerable change. Lengthy negotiations for union with the Methodist Church proved abortive in 1972 (see ANGLICAN-METHODIST CONVERSATIONS), as did an attempt to establish a covenant with the Free Churches (1982; see REUNION), but since 1972 members of other Churches have been free to receive Communion in Anglican churches. The introduction of Synodical Government in 1970 gave a voice to the laity in legislation in most areas. Prayer Book revision culminated in the publication of the Alternative Service Book 1980; this was facilitated by the Church of England (Worship and Doctrine) Measure 1974, which gave the C of E liberty, within certain safeguards, to order its own worship without reference to Parliament. Since 1976 through the Crown Appointments Commission, the Church has had a dominant voice in the choice of its bishops. In order to prevent serious defections after the ordination of women as priests (1994), provision was made for three provincial bishops to minister in those parishes unwilling to accept the ministration of bishops who had been involved in the ordination of a woman.

See also ANGLICAN COMMUNION and ANGLICANISM.