The Church Association was an English

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 founded in 1865. It was particularly active in opposition to

Anglo-Catholicism Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

ritualism A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

, and the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a theological 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 Un ...

. Founded in 1865 by Richard P. Blakeney, the association stated in its first annual report that the objectives of the association were, "To uphold the principles and order of the

United Church of England and Ireland The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglican tradition, with foundational doctrines being contained in the '' Thirty-nine Articles'' and ''Th ...

, and to counteract the efforts now being made to assimilate her services to those of the Church of Rome."

Litigation

As well as publishing information (including its ''Church Association Tracts'') and holding public meetings, controversially, this also involved instigating legal action against Anglo-Catholics under the

Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 The Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 ( 37 & 38 Vict. c. 85) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced as a Private Member's Bill by Archbishop of Canterbury Archibald Campbell Tait, to limit what he perceived as the growing ri ...

; for instance, legal action was taken against

Sidney Faithorn Green Sidney Faithorn Green (1841–1916) was an English clergyman who, during the Ritualism, Ritualist controversies in the Church of England, was imprisoned for 20 months for liturgy, liturgical practice contrary to the Public Worship Regulation Act ...

and Richard William Enraght. According to the association this was intended to clarify the law, 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.J. C. Whisenant, ''A Fragile Unity - Anti-Ritualism and the Division of Anglican Evangelicalism in the Nineteenth Century'' (Paternoster Press, 2003) p8

Active members

Reverend Thomas Henry Sparshott was organising secretary of the Church Association between 1881 and , and deputation secretary from 1893. He preached and lectured at various venues in England.

Merger and Church Society

In 1950, the association merged with the National Church League to form the Church Society.

References

External links

Church Association Tracts
*
The Teaching of the Ritualists not the Teaching of the Church of England
', Church Association Tract 4, John Charles Ryle Anglican organizations History of the Church of England Religious organizations established in 1865 {{Anglican-stub