Modern Church
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Modern Church is a charitable society promoting
liberal Christian Liberal Christianity, also known as liberal theology and historically as Christian modernism (see Catholic modernism and fundamentalist–modernist controversy), is a movement that interprets Christian teaching by prioritizing modern knowledg ...
theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
. It defends liberal positions on a wide range of issues including gender, sexuality, interfaith relations, religion and science, and
biblical scholarship Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...
. In church affairs it supports the role of laity and women ministers. Members receive the journal ''Modern Believing'' and the newsletter ''Signs of the Times''. A substantial account of its theology is Paul Badham’s ''The Contemporary Challenge of Modernist Theology.'' From 2011-2013 it published a series of short books introducing some of its themes. It has a large website. There is a regular annual conference. The theological principles behind its liberalism are that * divine revelation has not come to an end; * new ideas should be judged on their merits and ideas accepted or rejected in the past can be reassessed. * human rationality and creativity are not contrasted with divine revelation, but are valued as means to receiving it. Understood like this, theological liberalism is opposed to dogmatism. Its style is open and enquiring, willing to dialogue with other traditions and accept new insights from unexpected sources. It values critical scholarship of the Bible and Christian history. It expects to contribute to, and learn from, contemporary society in ways that are public, relevant and respectful.


History

The society was founded in 1898 as the Churchmen's Union for the Advancement of Liberal Religious Thought as a society to defend the tolerant 'middle ground' within 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, ...
. At the time both Evangelicalism and
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 ...
were becoming increasingly dogmatic in reaction against secular rationalism, which seemed a threat to religious belief. After a few changes of name, the society was known as The Modern Churchmen’s Union from 1928 to 1986. The name was then changed to The Modern Churchpeople’s Union and changed again in 2010 to Modern Church. From the outset it defended belief in evolution and critical scholarship of the Bible. It promoted the
ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...
from the 1920s. During the twentieth century it was among the first voices within the Church to campaign for contraception, remarriage after divorce, the abolition of capital punishment, the
decriminalisation of homosexuality Decriminalization of homosexuality is the repeal of laws criminalization of homosexuality, criminalizing same-sex acts between multiple men or multiple women. It has taken place in most of the world, except much of Africa and the Muslim world. ...
and the consecration of
women bishops The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination was traditionally res ...
. As part of its work in support of gay and lesbian clergy it was heavily involved in resisting the proposed Anglican Covenant. Its journal was founded in 1911. At first known as ''The Modern Churchman'', it is now ''Modern Believing'' and is published by
Liverpool University Press Liverpool University Press (LUP), founded in 1899, is the third oldest university press in England after Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. As the press of the University of Liverpool, it specialises in modern languages, lit ...
. Annual conferences began in 1914 and have continued with the exception of the war years. Over the years many distinguished theologians have addressed them. Its most controversial conference was 'Christ and the Creeds' in 1921. It generated so much debate that the Church of England set up a Doctrine Commission to investigate it. The Commission produced a report in 1938 exonerating the views expressed. The dominant figure in the early years was
Henry Major Henry Dewsbury Alves "Hal" Major, (28 July 1871 – 26 January 1961) was a New Zealand Anglican clergyman and theologian. He was Principal of Ripon Hall, Oxford from 1919 to 1948: first, when it was Ripon Clergy College in Ripon, Yorkshire ...
. Major not only ran the organisation but also set up a theological college for it in Ripon. The college moved to Oxford as Ripon Hall, and in 1975 merged with Cuddesdon as Ripon College Cuddesdon. The most detailed history of the organisation is Alan Stephenson's ''The Rise and Decline of English Modernism.'' It was written in the early 1980s at a time when the society was in decline and Stephenson expected it to die out, but since then it has revived. Apart from Henry Major, leading theologians in the past are
Hastings Rashdall Hastings Rashdall (24 June 1858 – 9 February 1924) was an English philosopher, Theology, theologian, historian, and Anglican priest. He expounded a theory known as Utilitarianism#Ideal utilitarianism, ideal utilitarianism, and he was a maj ...
, W. R. Inge (known as 'Dean Inge'), Charles Raven, Norman Pittenger, William Frend and Anthony Dyson. Theologians among its current members include
Linda Woodhead Linda Jane Pauline Woodhead (born 15 February 1964) is a British sociologist of religion and scholar of religious studies at King's College London Faculty of Arts and Humanities. She is best known for her work on religious change since the 1 ...
, Martyn Percy, Paul Badham, Elaine Graham, John Barton, Alan Race and Adrian Thatcher.


Leadership

In July 2017, Modern Church announced that its next General Secretary would be Jonathan Draper. He took up the part-time post on 1 September 2017. List of presidents: * 1898–1902: The Revd Prof George Henslow * 1902–1908: The Revd William Douglas Morrison * 1908–1915: Sir Charles Acland * 1915–1922: Prof Percy Gardner * 1923–1924: The Very Revd
Hastings Rashdall Hastings Rashdall (24 June 1858 – 9 February 1924) was an English philosopher, Theology, theologian, historian, and Anglican priest. He expounded a theory known as Utilitarianism#Ideal utilitarianism, ideal utilitarianism, and he was a maj ...
* 1924–1934: The Very Revd William Ralph Inge * 1934–1937: The Very Revd
Walter Matthews Walter Matthews may refer to: * Walter Matthews (politician) (1900–1986), member of the Canadian House of Commons * Walter Matthews (priest) (1881–1973), British Anglican priest, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral * Walt Matthews (1934–2014), basebal ...
* 1937–1958:
Sir Cyril Norwood ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English language, English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in Fren ...
* 1958–1966: The Rt Revd Leonard Wilson * 1966–1990: The Very Revd
Edward Carpenter Edward Carpenter (29 August 1844 – 28 June 1929) was an English utopian socialist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, an early activist for gay rights and prison reform whilst advocating vegetarianism and taking a stance against vivise ...
* 1990–1997: The Rt Revd Peter Selby * 1997–2011: The Rt Revd
John Saxbee John Charles Saxbee (born 7 January 1946) is a retired Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England between 2001/2 and 31 January 2011.
* 2011–2013: The Revd Prof John Barton * 2014–2019: Prof
Linda Woodhead Linda Jane Pauline Woodhead (born 15 February 1964) is a British sociologist of religion and scholar of religious studies at King's College London Faculty of Arts and Humanities. She is best known for her work on religious change since the 1 ...
* 2019–present: Prof Elaine Graham List of secretaries: * 1899–1900: The Revd William Geikie-Cobb * 1900–????: The Revd William Manning * 1916–1920: The Revd Cavendish Moxon * 1920–1923: Philip Henry Bagenal * 1923–1927: The Revd John Henry Bentley * 1927–1942: The Revd Thomas John Wood * 1942–1950: The Revd Robert Gladstone Griffith * 1950–1954: The Revd Thomas John Wood * 1954–1960: The Revd Clifford Oswald Rhodes * ''1960–1990: uncertain'' * 1991–2002: The Revd Nicholas Paul Henderson * 2002–2013: The Revd Jonathan Clatworthy * 2013–2016: The Revd Guy Elsmore * 2016 (acting): The Revd Lorraine Cavanagh * 2017–present: The Very Revd Jonathan Draper


References


External links

* {{Anglicanism footer Church of England societies and organisations 1898 establishments in the United Kingdom Christian organizations established in 1898