During the twentieth century, the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

periodically established a doctrine commission to report on an important theological question. The first commission "was appointed in 1922 and reported in 1938". In early years the commissions appear to have been appointed solely by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. In recent years the doctrine commission was constituted as a sub-commission of the

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...

. However, the members of the doctrine commission continued to be nominated by the Archbishops. In the early 1980s the

House of Bishops The House of Bishops is the third House in a General Synod of some Anglican churches and the second house in the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

took a greater interest in the work of the doctrine commission and the report ''We Believe in God'' (1987) was published "under its authority". This practice continued for the next three reports. After the completion of ''Being Human'' (2002) no further doctrine commission was nominated. In 2010 General Synod established a new permanent Faith and Order Commission of the General Synod which took over responsibility for producing theological reports for the House of Bishops.

Doctrine Commission Reports

* ''Being Human'' (2002) * ''The Mystery of Salvation'' (1995) * ''We Believe in the Holy Spirit'' (1989) * ''We Believe in God'' (1985) * ''Christian Believing'' (1976) * ''Prayer and the Departed'' (1971) * ''Subscription and Assent to the Thirty-Nine Articles'' (1968) * ''Doctrine in the Church of England'' (1938)

Chairpersons

Stephen Sykes Stephen Whitefield Sykes (1 August 1939 – 24 September 2014) was a Church of England bishop and academic specialising in divinity. He was Van Mildert Professor of Divinity at Durham University from 1974 to 1985, and Regius Professor of Divini ...

(1996–2002) * Alec Graham (1987–1995) * John A. Baker (1986–1987) * John V. Taylor (1981–1985) *

Maurice Wiles Maurice Frank Wiles, FBA (17 October 1923 – 3 June 2005) was an Anglican priest and academic. He was the Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford from 1970 to 1991. Life and academic career Wiles was educated at the Tonbridge ...

(?–1976) * William Temple (?–1938)

Doctrine Commission Publications

* ''Contemporary Doctrine Classics''. Church House Publishing, 2005. above reprints ''We Believe in God'' (1987), ''We Believe in the Holy Spirit'' (1991) and ''The Mystery of Salvation'' (1995) * ''Being Human: A Christian understanding of personhood illustrated with reference to power, money, sex and time''. Church House Publishing, 2003. * ''The Mystery of Salvation''. Church House Publishing, 1995. * ''We Believe in the Holy Spirit''. Church House Publishing, 1991. * ''We Believe in God''. Church House Publishing, 1987. * ''Believing in the Church: The Corporate Nature of Faith''. SPCK, 1981. ssay collection* ''Christian believing: The nature of the Christian faith and its expression in Holy Scripture and creeds''. SPCK, 1976. eport and essays* ''Thinking about the Eucharist''. SPCK, 1972. ssay collection* ''Prayer and the Departed''. SPCK, 1971. * ''Subscription and Assent to the Thirty-Nine Articles''. SPCK, 1968. * ''Doctrine in the Church of England''. SPCK, 1938. Reprinted by SPCK, 1982.

Doctrine in the Church today

Since 2010 the Faith and Order Commission of the General Synod - which acts as a 'theological resource for the church as a whole' - has taken over the role played previously by the doctrine commission. Following the resignation of

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

in 2012 the English theologian

John Milbank Alasdair John Milbank (born 23 October 1952) is an English Anglo-Catholic theologian and is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Nottingham, where he is President of the Centre of Theolo ...

called for the foundation of an international doctrine commission.John Milbank
"After Rowan: The Coherence and Future of Anglicanism"
''ABC Religion and Ethics'' (4 Apr 2012). Last accessed 28 Sep 2013 This body would be designed to serve the entire

Anglican communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

and would mirror the Catholic International Theological Commission which was founded in 1969.

References

{{Reflist

External links