John Scott Lidgett, CH (10 August 1854 – 16 June 1953) was a British Wesleyan Methodist minister and educationist. He achieved prominence both as a

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

and reformer within British Methodism, stressing the importance of the church's engagement with the whole of society and human culture, and as an effective advocate for education within

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Lidgett was also a prominent leader of the

Wesley Guild The Wesley Guild (also known as WG or Methodist Guild) is a worldwide Christian organisation, based in the United Kingdom, that aims to retain young people within the Methodist Church.Minutes of Several Conversations at the Yearly Conference o ...

. He served as the first President of the Methodist Conference in 1932–33.

Life

He was born in

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

, the son of John Jacob Lidgett, a shipowner, and Maria Elizabeth Scott. His maternal grandfather John Scott (1792–1868) was a prominent Wesleyan Methodist, a founder and first Principal of

Westminster Training College Westminster College, originally the Westminster Training College, was a teacher training college and college of higher education in England. The college was founded in London in 1851 as a training institute for teachers for Wesleyan Methodist ...

. Lidgett was educated at

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, entering in 1873, taking his BA in 1874 and his MA in 1875; he was awarded a DD by the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

on the strength of a book published in 1902, ''The Fatherhood of God''. In later life Lidgett was closely involved with the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, serving on its

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 1922 until he retired in 1946 at the age of 92. He served as deputy vice-chancellor and as

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

from 1930 to 1932. He was active in supporting the development of women's colleges and, through his support for the university's relations with teacher training colleges, was instrumental in the foundation of its

Institute of Education The UCL Institute of Education (IOE) is the faculty of education and society of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior t ...

. Lidgett died in a nursing home at

Epsom Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...

on 16 June 1953. He was buried at

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of ...

Theology

By the standards of 19th-century British Methodism, Lidgett's theology was liberal; he rejected the

penal substitution Penal substitution, also called penal substitutionary atonement and especially in older writings forensic theory,Vincent Taylor (theologian), Vincent Taylor, ''The Cross of Christ'' (London: Macmillan & Co, 1956), pp. 71–72: '...the ''four main ...

doctrine of the

atonement Atonement, atoning, or making amends is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some othe ...

, and wanted to move his denomination away from its inherited tendency to a narrow

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

stance, towards a

social gospel The Social Gospel is a social movement within Protestantism that aims to apply Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean en ...

. He founded the Bermondsey Settlement, the only Methodist foundation among the 19th century settlements in the East End of London. Like the secular settlements such as

Toynbee Hall Toynbee Hall is a charitable institution that works to address the causes and impacts of poverty in the East End of London and elsewhere. Established in 1884, it is based in Commercial Street, Spitalfields, and was the first university-affili ...

, it aimed to bring into the neighbourhood middle-class activists who could provide social and educational facilities for the poor, rather than concentrating narrowly on evangelism like the Church's more traditional "Missions" located in poor areas of London. Within the Church, Lidgett founded the modern

, a social organization aimed at young people but also offering activities to adults, which claimed over 150,000 members by 1900. He was President of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference (the ruling body of the denomination) in 1908–09. He was also an early supporter of the

ecumenical movement Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

and a key architect of British

Methodist Union Methodist Union was the joining together of several of the larger British Methodist denominations. These were the Wesleyan Methodists, the Primitive Methodists, and the United Methodists. The process involved many years of negotiation and discu ...

in 1932, and was the first President of the newly united church's conference. He remained in the active work of the ministry as chairman of the London South-West Methodist District until he was 94. Lidgett was active in London politics for much of his career. He served as an alderman of the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

, and was leader of the Progressive Party on the council from 1918 to 1928. He was prominent on the LCC Education Committee. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. It was founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire. The orde ...

in 1933.

Family

Lidgett married Emmeline Davies in 1884. They had a son (John Cuthbert Lidgett, b.1885, killed in action 1918) and a daughter (Lettice Mary Lidgett, b.1887, m. Gerald H. Davy 1911, d.1980England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office, 1980, Vol. 16, p. 2078). Emmeline died in 1934.

Published works

*''The Spiritual Principle of the Atonement'' (the 1897 Fernley lecture) *''The Fatherhood of God'' (1902) *''The Christian Religion, its Meaning and Proof'' (1907) *''God in Christ Jesus'' (1915) *''Sonship and Salvation'' (1921) *''The Victorian Transformation of Theology'' (the 1934 Maurice lectures) *''My Guided Life'' (1936) *''The Idea of God and Social Ideals'' (1938)

References

Bibliography

* Turberfield, A. F. (2002). ''John Scott Lidgett: Archbishop of British Methodism?''. Peterborough:

Epworth Press The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a Protestant Christian denomination in Britain, and the mother church to Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council. Methodism traces its origins to the evangelical revival le ...

. .

External links

Lidgett and the Bermondsey Settlement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lidgett, John Scott 1854 births 1953 deaths People from Lewisham Alumni of University College London Alumni of the University of Aberdeen English Methodist ministers English educational theorists Presidents of the Methodist Conference Members of London County Council Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Vice-chancellors of the University of London Academics of Westminster College, Oxford Burials at West Norwood Cemetery Progressive Party (London) politicians 19th-century English Methodist ministers 20th-century English Methodist ministers