Strangers' church was a term used by English-speaking people for independent Protestant churches established in foreign lands or by foreigners in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

during the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

. (The spelling stranger church is also found in texts of the period and modern scholarly works.)

English churches on the European continent

Many English churches sprang up in the

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

and

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

during the English Reformation. The most famous of these were established by the

Marian exiles The Marian exiles were English Protestants who fled to continental Europe during the 1553–1558 reign of the Catholic monarchs Queen Mary I and King Philip.Christina Hallowell Garrett (1938) ''Marian Exiles: A Study in the Origins of Elizabet ...

who fled Catholic persecution under Mary Tudor. Among these was the English Reformed Church, Amsterdam.

The Stranger Churches in England

The first Stranger Church to be set up in

was that led by the Italian reformer, Bernardino Ochino in 1547 ( Cranmer's permission coming in January 1548). Although set up for the Italian community in London, it welcomed reformed Protestants of other nationalities as well. Cranmer made it quite clear that this was an example of how he wanted the reformation in England to proceed by forcing the traditionalist Bishop

Edmund Bonner Edmund Bonner (also Boner; c. 15005 September 1569) was Bishop of London from 1539 to 1549 and again from 1553 to 1559. Initially an instrumental figure in the schism of Henry VIII from Rome, he was antagonised by the Protestant reforms introdu ...

to attend Ochino's inaugural sermon. In 1550, there were three congregations - Dutch, French and Italian. To the dismay of

bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

Nicholas Ridley, the fully independent congregations - from now known as one Stranger's Church received a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

and was incorporated by

letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

on 24 July 1550. The founder and first superintendent was Polish reformer John a Lasco. For the new community he wrote two fundamental writings - ''Confessio Londinensis,'' containing principles of faith, and ''Forma ac ratio'', containing structure and rites. They received help of Protestant aristocrats such as William Cecil and Katherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk.A. Spicer, "'A Place of Refuge and Sanctuary of a Holy Temple': Exile Communities and the Stranger Churches." In: N. Goose and L. Luu (eds.), ''Immigrants in Tudor and Early Stuart England'', Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2012, p. 93. The congregation received a grant of the Austin or Augustinian Friars Church which remains the site of the city's Dutch Protestant Church, the church itself having been destroyed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Upon incorporation, the church was renamed the "Temple of the Lord Jesus" and given four pastors: two for the Dutch church, and two for the French/ Walloon church meeting in St. Anthony's Chapel. Today the French Protestant Church of London worships in a chapel on

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. Cranmer's main purposes in giving official sanction to the Churches seem to have been two-fold. Firstly, they provided a glimpse of how a reformed Protestant Church might work in England, within the episcopal system which many of the "hotter" reformers wished to abolish. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, they helped Cranmer and his allies in the suppression of heretical strains of religion, such as the non-Trinitarian George van Parris.

Members of London's Dutch Stranger Church

* John a Lasco, first superintendent of the church * Marten Micron, first pastor of the church * Steven Mierdman, printer (pseud. Niclaes van Oldenborch), joined the church in 1550 * Justus Velsius, dissident, joined the church in 1563 until expelled from the kingdom

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stranger Churches 1547 establishments in England 16th-century Protestant churches Types of church buildings Strangers

English churches on the European continent

The Stranger Churches in England

Members of London's Dutch Stranger Church

See also

Further reading

References