Church Society is a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

evangelical Anglican Evangelical Anglicanism or evangelical Episcopalianism is a tradition or church party within Anglicanism that shares affinity with broader evangelicalism. Evangelical Anglicans share with other evangelicals the attributes of "conversionism, a ...

organisation and registered charity formed in 1950 by the merger of the Anglican

Church Association The Church Association was an English evangelical Anglican organisation founded in 1865. It was particularly active in opposition to Anglo-Catholicism, ritualism, and the Oxford Movement. Founded in 1865 by Richard P. Blakeney, the association st ...

(founded 1865) and National Church League (founded 1906 by amalgamation of two earlier bodies). In May 2018, Church Society merged with two other evangelical Anglican organisations,

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

and the Fellowship of Word and Spirit to provide a united voice for conservative evangelicals within the Church of England. The journal of Church Society is ''Global Anglican'', formerly '' Churchman'' (established 1879). Editors have included Henry Wace,

Philip Edgecumbe Hughes Philip Edgcumbe Hughes (1915–1990) was an Anglican clergyman and New Testament scholar whose life spanned four continents: Australia, where he was born; South Africa, where he spent his formative years; England, where he was ordained; and the ...

and

Gerald Bray Gerald Lewis Bray (born 16 November 1948) is a British theologian, ecclesiastical historian and priest in the Church of England. Teaching Born in Montreal, Quebec, on 16 November 1948, Bray holds a BA from McGill University and a MLitt and DLitt ...

. The current editor is Peter Jensen. Anglicans associated with the society include

J. C. Ryle John Charles Ryle (10 May 1816 – 10 June 1900) was an English evangelical Anglican bishop. He was the first Anglican bishop of Liverpool. Life He was the eldest son of John Ryle, private banker, of Park House, Macclesfield, M.P. for Maccles ...

, J. T. Tomlinson, W. H. Griffith-Thomas, Henry Wace,

William Joynson-Hicks William is a male given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norm ...

(Home Secretary), Geoffrey Bromiley, Philip Edgecumbe Hughes,

J. I. Packer James Innell Packer (22 July 192617 July 2020) was an English-born Canadian evangelical theologian, cleric and writer in the low-church Anglican and Calvinist traditions. He was considered one of the most influential evangelicals in North Amer ...

, Alan Stibbs,

John Stott John Robert Walmsley Stott (27 April 1921 – 27 July 2011) was an English Anglican cleric and theologian who was noted as a leader of the worldwide evangelical movement. He was one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant in 1974. In ...

, Alec Motyer,

Wallace Benn Wallace Parke Benn (born 6 August 1947) is a bishop of the Church of England. He was the area bishop, area Bishop of Lewes in the Diocese of Chichester from May 1997 until his retirement in October 2012. Early life and education Benn was born ...

, and

Rod Thomas Rod Thomas (born 11 January 1947) is a Welsh former professional footballer who represented Wales at International level. During his career Thomas played for Gloucester City, Swindon Town, Derby County, Cardiff City, Gloucester for a second ...

History and predecessors

The original forebear of the Church Society was the Protestant Association (founded 1835). The forebears of the society were established in the 19th century to oppose the introduction of

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

doctrine into the Church of England through bodies such as the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...

and

The Church Union The Church Union is an Anglo-Catholic advocacy group within the Church of England. The organisation was founded as the Church of England Protection Society on 12 May 1859 to challenge the authority of the English civil courts to determine questi ...

. The

, founded in 1865 by Richard P. Blakeney stated in its first annual report that the objectives of the Association were: As well as publishing information (including its ''Church Association Tracts'') and holding public meetings, controversially, this also involved instigating legal action against Anglo-Catholics. According to the Association this was intended to clarify the law.J. C. Whisenant, ''A Fragile Unity - Anti-Ritualism and the Division of Anglican Evangelicalism in the Nineteenth Century'' (Paternoster Press, 2003) p8 However, the ritualists refusal to comply with the courts' verdicts, coupled with the bishops' unwillingness to act, eventually led to such legal action not being pursued. In 1928 the National Church League, led by its treasurer

, was successful in Parliament in resisting what were seen as attempted Anglo-Catholic doctrinal changes in the 1928 ''Book of Common Prayer''. The society (and its forebears) have published theological literature since the 19th century, including the Church Association Tracts (several of which were written by

), and its journal, '' Churchman''. Most of the society's 20th-century titles, including works by W. H. Griffith Thomas, (pictured right) were produced under its publishing arm, Church Book Room Press (CBRP), and from 1976, Vine Books Ltd. In 1950 the Church Association and the National Church League merged to form Church Society. At the AGM in 2018 a new Council was elected to include leaders from

and the Fellowship of Word and Spirit, to work together to complete the agreed merger of the three organisations. The merged body continued to be known as Church Society.

Present day

According to its website, Church Society is a fellowship contending to reform and renew the Church of England in biblical faith. These objectives are accomplished through campaigning, networking, patronage, publishing, conferences and partnership with other organisations, as well as the administration of charitable trusts and properties. According to its memorandum of association the main objective of Church Society is: The society's interpretation of its declared objectives include controversial positions including opposing homosexuality and the ordination of women.

Campaigning

The society issues occasional press releases on its views which its website says seek to present 'a clear biblical perspective on issues affecting both the Church of England and the nation' The society has been active in opposing women's ordination as priests (it failed in its legal attempt to overturn the 1992 decision to ordain women) and consecration as bishops, which included in November 2012 setting up the campaign group Together 4ward. It has also taken a position against homosexuality which led to it opposing the appointment of the former Archbishop of Canterbury,

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

, and also the appointment of Jeffrey John as Dean of St Albans. In 2012 the society, in conjunction with other organisations, campaigned against Government plans to implement same-sex marriage legislation. The society has critiqued inter-denominational theological movements including theological liberalism and some aspects of the

charismatic movement The charismatic movement in Christianity is a movement within established or mainstream Christian denominations to adopt beliefs and practices of Charismatic Christianity with an emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the use of spirit ...

Patronage

Through its patronage body ''Church Society Trust'' (prior to 1950, Church Association Trust) the society is involved in the appointment of evangelical clergy in approximately 130 Anglican churches, including St John the Baptist, Hartford Cheshire (pictured), and Christ Church, Düsseldorf

Publishing

The society today publishes its journal ''Global Anglican'' (formerly ''Churchman''), edited by Peter Jensen; members' magazine ''Crossway'';, and a number of books and booklets such as ''An English Prayer Book'' (a contemporary Anglican liturgy in the tradition of the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

); and a range of books on contemporary evangelical Anglicanism, such as ''Fight Valiantly''. In 2010 the society established the ''Reformed Evangelical Anglican Library'' (REAL) – a project to re-publish

texts (including the sermons of

George Whitefield George Whitefield (; 30 September 1770), also known as George Whitfield, was an Anglican cleric and evangelist who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement. Born in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke College at th ...

, as well as producing a weekly

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

, and regular videos introducing the lectionary readings. Other audio-visual and downloadable resources produced by Church Society are also on their website.

Administration

The society administers a number of charitable trusts and properties. The society holds an annual day conference, an annual residential conference (formerly the Fellowship of Word and Spirit conference), is a partner in the annual ReNew conference, and hosts the annual Junior Anglican Evangelical Conference. Church Society also runs an online training course for women, the Priscilla Programme in partnership with

Union School of Theology Union School of Theology is a Reformed educational institution in Bryntirion in Bridgend, South Wales. The School is part of the wider Christian ministry of Union which also involves church planting and the production of theological resources. ...

, led by the Associate Director. The society is run by an elected council (voted for by its members annually). the President of the society was Bishop Roderick Thomas, and the Director was Revd Lee Gatiss. After previously being located in central London, the society's headquarters moved to Dean Wace House,

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

, UK.

Leadership

Secretaries

* 1942-1949: Llewellyn Roberts (Nat. Church League) * 1945-1952: Gordon Savage (Church Assoc. & Church Society) * 1953-1956: Philip Hughes * 1956-1962: Tom Hewitt * 1962-1967: John Sertin * 1967-1975: Michael Benson * 1975-1982: Don Irving * 1983-1991: David Samuel * 1991-1998: David Streater

Directors

* 1998-2011: David Phillips * 2013-: Lee GatissChurch Society staff
/ref> From 2017 Church Society has also employed an Associate Director, Ros Clarke. In 2019, two part-time Regional Directors were appointed.

References

{{Authority control Anglican organizations Evangelicalism in the Church of England History of the Church of England Christian organizations established in 1950