The Church of England and the First World War

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Church Of England ◽  
First World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The First World War ◽  
First World ◽  
The Church

Rescued from the Brink: the Collapse and Resurgence of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford

2008 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 354-364
Author(s):  
Andrew Atherstone
Keyword(s):  
Church Of England ◽  
First World War ◽  
Conservative Estimate ◽  
World War ◽  
The First World War ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
First Time ◽  
First World ◽  
The Church

The twenty-five theological colleges of the Church of England entered the 1960s in buoyant mood. Rooms were full, finances were steadily improving, expansion seemed inevitable. For four years in succession, from 1961 to 1964, ordinations exceeded six hundred a year, for the first time since before the First World War, and the peak was expected to rise still higher. In a famously misleading report, the sociologist Leslie Paul predicted that at a ‘conservative estimate’ there would be more than eight hundred ordinations a year by the 1970s. In fact, the opposite occurred. The boom was followed by bust, and the early 1970s saw ordinations dip below four hundred. The dramatic plunge in the number of candidates offering themselves for Anglican ministry devastated the theological colleges. Many began running at a loss and faced imminent bankruptcy. In desperation the central Church authorities set about closing or merging colleges, but even their ruthless cutbacks could not keep pace with the fall in ordinands.

The Chancellors’ Dilemma: The Impact of the First World War on Faculty Jurisdiction

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 471-486
Author(s):  
Anne C. Brook
Keyword(s):  
Church Of England ◽  
First World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Death Toll ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Ancient Monuments ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First World ◽  
The Church

The Church of England successfully resisted proposals to bring decisions about alterations to its churches within the provisions of the Ancient Monuments Act (1913). However, the quid pro quo for the continuation of that ecclesiastical exemption was a strengthening of the operation of the faculty jurisdiction of diocesan chancellors. The First World War brought more urgent concerns for dioceses, but what no-one had foreseen was the huge death toll that war would bring, and the consequent pressure for communal and individual memorials to be created in churches and churchyards. In addition to the greatly increased volume of faculty applications, and the problem of some churches going ahead with commemorative projects without seeking the necessary faculties, some war memorial plans involving crucifixes began to raise the spectre of Ritualistic illegality.

The Last Crusade: The Church of England in the First World War

1974 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 292
Author(s):  
Ernest Krausz ◽  
Albert Marrin
Keyword(s):  
Church Of England ◽  
First World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The First World War ◽  
First World ◽  
The Church

1939–45—Puzzled People?

2019 ◽  
pp. 215-244
Author(s):  
Clive D. Field
Keyword(s):  
Church Of England ◽  
First World War ◽  
Church Membership ◽  
World War ◽  
Opinion Polling ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Data Gaps ◽  
Second World ◽  
First World ◽  
The Church

Analysis of the Second World War’s impact on religious allegiance is affected by data gaps and doubts about the accuracy of opinion polling and the rigour of membership roll revision. But the Church of England lost some market share, the Free Churches slid further towards nominalism, and the number of ‘nones’ grew, absolutely and relatively, more than in the First World War. Church membership losses were greatest in 1939–42. There were 1 million fewer Sunday scholars. Unlike the First World War, there was no temporary revival of churchgoing at the start of the Second World War, only continuous decline in Protestantism, with the index of attendance at ordinary services often reduced to ten or less, half of adults never attending or solely for rites of passage. The decrease is partly explained by wartime disruptions but churchgoing also faced competition from Sunday cinema and the BBC’s enhanced portfolio of religious broadcasts.

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