Ambassadors of Christ commemorates 150 years of theological education in Cuddesdon with a collection of substantial essays. It begins with a discussion by Mark Chapman of the revival of theology and education in the early years of the nineteenth century. This is followed by essays by Alastair Redfern on Samuel Wilberforce as a pastoral theologian and a revision by Andrew Atherstone of Owen Chadwick's Centenary History in the light of more recent historical research, bringing the discussion up to the 1880s. For the first time, Ripon Hall, which merged with Cuddesdon in 1975, receives a thorough and detailed historical treatment by Michael Brierley. Mark Chapman then discusses the 1960s under Robert Runcie, and a final chapter by Robert Jeffery deals with the theological and churchmanship issues which emerged from the merger. Two marvellous sermons preached at College Festivals by Michael Ramsey and Owen Chadwick are also reproduced in appendices. This special commemorative volume will appeal to past and present students as well as specialists in nineteenth and twentieth-century church history and all those interested in ministerial education and spiritual formation. A

John Henry Newman (1801-1890) has always inspired devotion. Newman has made disciples as leader of the Catholic revival in the Church of England, an inspiration to fellow converts to Roman Catholicism, a nationally admired preacher and prose-writer, and an internationally recognized saint of the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, he has also provoked criticism. The church authorities, both Anglican and Catholic, were often troubled by his words and deeds, and scholars have disputed his arguments and his honesty. Written by a range of international experts, The Oxford Handbook of John Henry Newman shows how Newman remains important to the fields of education, history, literature, philosophy, and theology. Divided into four parts, part one grounds Newman's works in the places, cultures, and networks of relationships in which he lived. Part two looks at the thinkers who shaped his own thought, while the third part engages critically and appreciatively with themes in his writings. Part four examines how those themes have shaped conversations in the churches and the academy. This Handbook will serve as an important resource to critical and appreciative exploration of the person, writings, controversies, and legacy of Newman.

This book seeks to bring coherence to two of the most studied periods in British history, Caroline non-conformity (pre-1640) and the British revolution (post-1642). It does so by focusing on the pivotal years of 1638-44 where debates around non-conformity within the Church of England morphed into a revolution between Parliament and its king. Parliament, saddled with the responsibility of re-defining England's church, called its Westminster assembly of divines to debate and define the content and boundaries of that new church. Typically this period has been studied as either an ecclesiastical power struggle between Presbyterians and independents, or as the harbinger of modern religious toleration. This book challenges those assumptions and provides an entirely new framework for understanding one of the most important moments in British history. -- .

Archbishop Michael Ramsey was one of the church's most remarkable twentieth-century saints--wise and humble, humorous and compassionate. These introductory lectures on Anglicanism reveal the breadth of Ramsey's theological understanding, his ecumenism, and his vision of the church and the Christian life. Informal and conversational in style, the lectures offer an overview of Anglican theology, spirituality, and history. Ramsey begins with Anglicanism's enduring characteristics, including its dependence on Scripture, tradition--the ancient writers of the church who guide us in interpreting the Bible--and reason, our God-given capacity for divine revelation. Next Ramsey explores its teachings on theology and the sacraments, Tractarianism and the Oxford Movement, the renaissance of Anglican religious communities, and the evolving doctrines of creation, incarnation, and the Holy Spirit. The final section presents Ramsey's theology of the church and Anglicanism's relationship to Rome and the Orthodox churches.

Episcopalians newly discovering their church home or long-time members who may have forgotten why they love the church will appreciate Unabashedly Episcopalian. Bishop Andy Doyle has mined the Baptismal Covenant and his own experiences leading the Diocese of Texas. The result is a heartfelt, smart and practical book that calls Episcopalians to wake up to the church s unique gifts and story, and equips them to share that witness in their neighborhoods and out in the world."

In clear, accessible language, Markham demonstrates how the liturgy of The Episcopal Church can enable us to cope more effectively with the stresses and strains of modern life. This book is a delightful introduction to the movement and flow of Episcopal services and demonstrates how the liturgy can transform human lives. Markham shows persuasively how the whole purpose of the Christian liturgy is to provide us with the resources to enable God to facilitate healthy and authentic living.

The Church of England still seemed an essential part of Englishness, and even of the British state, when Mrs Thatcher was elected in 1979. The decades which followed saw a seismic shift in the foundations of the C of E, leading to the loss of more than half its members and much of its influence. In England today `religion' has become a toxic brand, and Anglicanism something done by other people. How did this happen? Is there any way back? This `relentlessly honest' and surprisingly entertaining book tells the dramatic and contentious story of the disappearance of the Church of England from the centre of public life. The authors - religious correspondent Andrew Brown and academic Linda Woodhead - watched this closely, one from the inside and one from the outside. That Was the Church, That Was shows what happened and explains why.

This book describes in detail the ways in which the life of the Church of England is affected by law. It deals with a great many topics including canonical jurisprudence, ecclesiastical government, the ministry of clergy and laity, faith, doctrine and liturgy, the churches' rites and the management of property and finance. Each of these subjects is studied and analyzed critically and where appropriate comparisons are made with the Roman Catholic Church.
Five general themes emerge: first is the degree to which the church can be said to be regulated; the second concerns the increasingly important use of administrative rules created executively at national and diocesian level to supplement the churches formal law; the third examines the relationship between the formal law and the pastoral values of clarity, certainty and flexibility; the fourth theme is the applicability of secular law; the final theme is the comparison with the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church. Thus the book provides for the first time a comprehensive, descriptive and critical analysis of the legal framework of the Church of England and the regulatory instruments which operate within this framework.

Richard Greenham was one of the most important and respected figures among the Elizabethan clergy. His contemporaries described him as the founder of a previously unknown pastoral art: the cure of cases of conscience. Despite his fame in the Elizabethan period as a model pastor, pioneer in reformed casuistry, and founder of one of the first rectory seminaries, scholars have made little use of his life and works in their study of Elizabethan religious life. This study restores Richard Greenham to the central place he held in the development of Elizabethan Reformed parochial ministry. The monograph-length introduction includes a biography, an analysis of his pastoral style, and a study of his approach to curing cases of conscience. The transcription of Rylands English Manuscript 524, cross-referenced with the published editions of the sayings, offers a useful source to scholars who wish to study the collecting and 'framing' process of the humanist pedagogical tradition. The selection of early published works includes Greenham's (unfinished) catechism, treatises on the Sabbath and marriage, and advice on reading scripture and educating children.

Church dedications are as widely used as they are little studied, yet their histories are often obscure and complicated. Frequently forgotten after the Reformation, they were revived on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with many guesses and mistakes, resulting in numerous alterations. Church history cannot safely be based on the dedication in use today. Part One of the book surveys their history in England from roman ties to the present day. Part Two is detailed list of all 800 ancient parish churches and religious houses in Cornwall and Devon. It shows when their dedications first occur, the changes and misunderstandings that have happened, and the dates of parish feast days. Cornwall is a country of Celtic church dedication, whilst Devon's resemble this of the rest of England, so the book will be helpful in understanding dedications in both traditions.

In the past decade, cathedrals have blossomed as signs of growth for the Anglican Church in England and Wales. They have opened their doors to growing congregations, to widening participation at the major Christian festivals, and to visitors, pilgrims, and tourists on a changing quest for religious experience and for spiritual fulfilment. In this thought-provoking volume Leslie J. Francis' research group presents ten focused empirical studies that illuminate what is really going on in these cathedrals.

A rich and powerful exploration of desire, sin and redemption, by "our best chronicler of the rewards and pitfalls of present-day faith" [PHILIP PULLMAN] "A novel that probes any number of aggressive varieties of moralism, while testing the reader's own moral alertness for rigour, realism and generosity. An engrossing, three-dimensional, grown-up narrative." ROWAN WILLIAMS "An irresistibly readable, thoughtful and characteristically witty examination of the quandaries and compromises faced by the Church of England in an era of decline . . . I loved this book for its lightness of touch about serious subjects and for dialogue that glitters like clashing rapiers." MIRANDA SEYMOUR As a woman in the early 1980s, Clarissa Phipps is unable to pursue her vocation to the priesthood. Instead, she joins the BBC's religious affairs department, where she is sent to interview celebrated artist, Seward Wemlock, about the panels he is painting for an ancient Cheshire church. "A serious and important writer" ROSE TREMAIN Thirty years on, Clarissa, now rector of that same church, chances upon Brian, the chief bell-ringer and husband of her closest friend, fondling fifteen-year-old David. Dismissing David's claim that they are in love, Clarissa is obliged to act. Will she choose friendship or conscience, sympathy or her official duty of care? The fallout from that choice forces her to reflect on the original controversy over Wemlock's panels and her concerns about his relationship with the teenagers who modelled for Adam and Eve. Had she acted on the whispers that reached her at the time, how many lives - her own included - would have turned out differently? The Choice is a rich and powerful exploration of desire, sin and redemption, questioning whether it's possible, let alone prudent, to separate the art from the artist. It examines the fault lines in both religious and secular society, from the AIDS crisis and the struggle for women's ordination in the 1980s to the culture wars of today. Richly comic and deeply compassionate, The Choice is a remarkable synthesis of the sacred and profane. "At a time when British fiction has never been more timorous about tackling novels of ideas, Michael Arditti has produced one worthy of Iris Murdoch and Graham Greene. Brilliantly ambiguous, waspishly witty and thoroughly enjoyable, this is Michael Arditti's own masterpiece to date" AMANDA CRAIG

Nathaniel Woodard founded an educational system 'firmly grounded in the Christian faith', and the establishment in 1874 of the first Woodard girls' school lies at the heart of his legacy. However, the role of one remarkable woman in securing this legacy has until now been obscured. Eliza Lowe and the Founding of Woodard Schools for Girls is her untold story. Drawing on scholarly articles, newspaper reports, letters from pupils, census records, and local and family archival material, Thompson describes life in Eliza Lowe's school, from swimming in the sea to politics at breakfast and competitions for an 'amiability' prize. While discussions of Nathaniel Woodard and 19th-century girls' education provide context, Eliza's own letters reveal a woman of wit, curiosity and humanitarian feeling. Her achievements will inspire students of women's history and girls' education, and encourage those who believe that religion enhances education, while her lasting legacy will interest both former pupils and those who continue in the Woodard tradition today.

Nathaniel Woodard founded an educational system 'firmly grounded in the Christian faith', and the establishment in 1874 of the first Woodard girls' school lies at the heart of his legacy. However, the role of one remarkable woman in securing this legacy has until now been obscured. Eliza Lowe and the Founding of Woodard Schools for Girls is her untold story. Drawing on scholarly articles, newspaper reports, letters from pupils, census records, and local and family archival material, Thompson describes life in Eliza Lowe's school, from swimming in the sea to politics at breakfast and competitions for an 'amiability' prize. While discussions of Nathaniel Woodard and 19th-century girls' education provide context, Eliza's own letters reveal a woman of wit, curiosity and humanitarian feeling. Her achievements will inspire students of women's history and girls' education, and encourage those who believe that religion enhances education, while her lasting legacy will interest both former pupils and those who continue in the Woodard tradition today.

Professor Rupp looks at the consequences of the Revolution of 1688, including the Toleration Act and the schism created by those who felt bound in conscience not to accept the new monarchy. He asks how the alliance between Church and State affected the Establishment, and how party politics modified its attitudes and sought to silence its independent voice. He describes the life and worship of the Churches; the survival of intolerance despite the principle of toleration; the growth of the dissenting Churches, and the predicament of the Roman Catholics.

Making clear the Christian position that God's self-revelation is through human nature, 'Personhood and Christianity' offers an account of the way a person is formed as an individual in community from the moment of conception onward. The research and teaching of Dr Frank Lake are explained, drawing out the distinction between Lake's psychodynamic therapy and psychoanalytical practices, whether Freudian or Jungian. Forshaw shows that Christian living and spirituality are properly focused on the non-religious activity of God in the world, and that the Church's mission requires the formation of worshipping congregations that are increasingly free of the defensive behaviours commonly encouraged by religion. In pursuing his argument, Forshaw adopts a three-fold approach: Asserting that many of the practices and attitudes of the divided churches still make it difficult for people to understand Christianity; Taking up proposals of leading theologians and therapists he discusses the kind of holiness in the midst of ordinary life that can lead to practical reform in parishes, and contribute towards radical change in community life more widely. Laying stress on the world-directed purpose of the Eucharist through the ascended Jesus who is present everywhere. 'Personhood and Christianity' will be of great interest to all involved in Christian leadership and in the caring services of Church and society generally, to those training for ministry and to everyone engaged in pastoral counselling and therapy. The Author: With a degree from Cambridge in history and theology, Oliver Forshaw was trained for ordination at the Queen's College, Birmingham. Having served parishes in Singapore, Yorkshire, and Cumbria, he was longest in a large Urban Priority Area parish in Manchester where he set up along with R.C. and Methodist colleagues a counselling and community work project. He also led Clinical Theology seminars and served on a regional panel of counsellors for ministers and their families. This experience increased his awareness of the need for psychodynamic therapy for clerg

After slavery was abolished, how far would white America go toward including African Americans as full participants in the country's institutions? Conventional historical timelines mark the end of Reconstruction in the year 1877, but the Methodist Episcopal Church continued to wrestle with issues of racial inclusion for decades after political support for racial reform had receded. An 1844 schism over slavery split Methodism into northern and southern branches, but Union victory in the Civil War provided the northern Methodists with the opportunity to send missionaries and teachers into the territory that had been occupied by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. To a remarkable degree, the M.E. Church succeeded in appealing to freed slaves and white Unionists and thereby built up a biracial membership far surpassing that of any other Protestant denomination. A Long Reconstruction details the denomination's journey with unification and justice. African Americans who joined did so in a spirit of hope that through religious fellowship and cooperation they could gain respect and acceptance and ultimately assume a position of equality and brotherhood with whites. However, as segregation gradually took hold in the South, many northern Methodists evinced the same skepticism as white southerners about the fitness of African Americans for positions of authority and responsibility in an interracial setting. The African American membership was never without strong white allies who helped to sustain the Church's official stance against racial caste but, like the nation as a whole, the M.E. Church placed a growing priority on putting their broken union back together.

Perfect for newcomers and confirmation classes The Episcopal Church has a language and a practice all its own. For a newcomer, these can seem intimidating at first glance. This book takes readers through a Sunday worship experience, and explains the what, the why, and the how of what they might encounter. Worship is explained, with a quick survey of the Book of Common Prayer, along with frequently encountered vocabulary. How we read the Bible and what we believe about core points of theology are also discussed, especially as these points may differ from what many people assume to be Christian norms. How faith is practiced and its connection to our social and moral lives is discussed. What is the Jesus Movement and how can the Way of Love be lived every day? Finally, a short overview of Episcopal history is included, for the visitor who wonders how we came to be here. The book concludes with a few of the most frequently asked questions by adults who join the Episcopal Church.

It is hard to comprehend the last 500 years of England's history without understanding the Church of England. From its roots in Catholicism through to the present day, this is the extraordinary history of a familiar but much-misunderstood institution. The Church has frequently been divided between high and low, Evangelical and Anglo-Catholic. For its first 150 years people sacrificed their lives to defend it; the Anglican Church is and has always been defined by its complicated relationship to the state and power. As Jeremy Morris shows, the story of the Church - central to British life - has never been straightforward. Weaving social, political and religious context together with the significance of its music and architecture, A People's Church skilfully illuminates a complex and pre-eminent institution.

'Kilvert's World of Wonders' focuses upon the life of the endearingly humble clergyman Francis Kilvert, who is best known for the Diary which records his sensitive descriptions of rural life in the nineteenth century. Until recently Kilvert was considered naive, lacking in confidence, and parochial in outlook, most at home in the country cottage or the country vicarage. In this volume, however, Toman reveals Kilvert as a sophisticated thinker in touch with metropolitan culture and fascinated by the technological progress of his age. He marveled at railways, shipyards, and the machinery of the Great Exhibition, and explored the theories of mesmerism and evolution. Toman makes his customary careful reading of the 'Diary', demonstrated in his previous study 'Kilvert's Diary and Landscape' (The Lutterworth Press, 2009), but also delves into Kilvert's family background, education and childhood reading, and into the diaries of his sister Emily, to shed light on previously unacknowledged aspects of Kilvert's personality. In this perceptive revaluation of Kilvert's character and outlook, Toman introduces us to a man who sought to understand the great changes of the mid-nineteenth century, and so come to terms with what was becoming the world of today. John Toman spent thirty years in education as a teacher, lecturer, and schools inspector. For many years, he has read and re-read 'Kilvert's Diary' and walked 'Kilvert Country'. During the last twenty years, he has made an intensive study of the 'Diary' and of Kilvert's background, he is the author of 'Kilvert's Diary and Landscape' (2008). 'Toman's study reveals Kilvert to have been a man who 'had the curiosity and courage to face the age's difficult questions'. The book's thorough and scholarly approach will ensure that it remains an indispensable tool to all those who wish to understand him and the forces which shaped him.' Dr Martin Crossley Evans, University of Bristol 'Toman completes here a thorough reassessment of the literary, cultural and theological influences on Kilvert, bringing us closer than ever before to his character. Meticulously researched and written in a clear, engaging style, the book foregrounds the diarist's complex and ambivalent relationship with the rapidly developing climate of the mid-nineteenth century.' Dr Philip Dunham, University of Coventry

In 1980s America, coming out as gay as a father and husband was a significant journey for anyone to make. Coming out as gay as a priest guaranteed immersion into controversy, contradiction, and challenge. This book tells of The Reverend Canon Ted Karpf's navigation of new social and romantic journeys, all within the context of his priestly vocation in the Episcopal Church. Covering from 1968 to 2018, Karpf recounts his vivid memories, life-changing dreams and resonant reflections on living a life of faith in a socially and politically tumultuous period of history. His narratives are crafted as poetic meditations on enduring values and meaning, which can remind any reader that we are neither abandoned nor alone, and that forgiveness is a fulfilling way of living in a world of contradictions.

Society in Britain has changed dramatically in the last 30 years, especially in terms of our understanding of community and how we relate to one another. One of the responses of the Church has been to plant new churches and create 'fresh expressions' of church; churches that relate to our changing context. With a new foreword by the Rt Revd Graham Cray, this detailed, practical and well-researched report: gives an overview of recent developments in church planting; describes varied and exciting 'fresh expressions' of church; offers practical help and advice; looks candidly at where lessons can be learned; proposes a framework and methodology for good, effective church planting; includes recommendations to make possible the visions of a vibrant future Church. Each chapter has a set of questions and challenges to help local parish churches engage with the issues.