There are no Jewish religious authorities that consider Jews for Jesus to be a Jewish organization. Rabbinical authorities point out that there is only one mention of the Old Testament (the Tanakh to Jews) in its "Statement of Faith". Additionally, the Supreme Court of Israel determined that Messianic Jews are not actually Jews as belief in Jesus as the Messiah is not a Jewish value. Instead, most Jews view Jesus either as a good Jewish teacher or as a false prophet, but most certainly a failed messiah claimant.
History
Jews for Jesus was founded by Moishe Rosen, a Baptist minister of the Hebrew Christian movement and a former member of the American Board of Missions to the Jews (ABMJ). The organization was formed in 1970 under the name "Hineni Ministries" as a subsidiary group of the ABMJ. In 1973, Rosen left ABMJ and incorporated his ministry as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
under the name "Jews for Jesus". Originally, "Jews for Jesus" was one
of the organization's several slogans, but after the media began to call
the group "Jews for Jesus", the organization adopted the name.
Rosen and members began conducting community outreach on streets and college campuses of San Francisco, California. In the following years, branches were established in New York, Chicago, and Boston.
In 1978, the Jews for Jesus headquarters relocated to its current
location in San Francisco. In 1981, the organization expanded
internationally. According to the organization, as of 2021 it maintain offices in 13 countries and 15 cities around the world.
Rosen remained Executive Director until 1996, when he stepped down to work full-time as a staff missionary. He was replaced by David Brickner, who has held the position since. Rosen remained on the Board of Directors until his death in 2010.
Beliefs
Jews for Jesus claims to syncretizeJewish heritage and Christian faith into spiritual harmony. They believe faith in Jesus is a viable expression of Jewish life.
The Old Testament and the New Testament are divinely inspired, without error, and are the final authority in all matters of faith and life. Traditional Jewish literature is in no way binding upon life or faith but of value only where it is supported by or conformable to the Word of God.
Jews for Jesus is a registered 501(c)(3)
organization that employs approximately 250 staff worldwide. Its
headquarters are located in San Francisco, California, and operates
offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto, Sydney, Johannesburg,
London, Berlin, Paris, Budapest, Tel Aviv, Kyiv, Odesa, Moscow, and
Jerusalem.
Once well-known for their distribution of hand-drawn religious
tracts, today Jews for Jesus conducts community engagement through other
means. Examples of their outreach methods include Jewish holiday
events, Bible studies, service projects, internet evangelism, and
multi-purpose spaces such as the Moishe Rosen Center in Tel Aviv and the
Upside Down Cafe in Los Angeles.
Funding and organization
They are a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and of MissioNexus. Donations are tax deductible. An independent auditing firm, Eckhoff Accountancy, conducts the organization's annual audit. According to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, the group's total revenue in FY
2021 was US$37,431,707 and its total expenses was $25,888,924. Expense
breakdown was $20,744,089 for program, $2,039,434 for administration,
and $3,105,401 for fundraising.
Jews for Jesus is governed by international boards of directors
in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Israel, and
Europe. The CEO, currently David Brickner, is advised by an executive leadership team consisting of seven members.
Public perception
Jewish
Jews
for Jesus has a contentious relationship with the Jewish community, and
their methods have generated controversy. All Jewish authorities, as
well as the governing bodies of the State of Israel, hold the view that Messianic Judaism, the religious movement with which Jews for Jesus is affiliated, is not a sect of Judaism but a form of Evangelical Christianity. Additionally, Gentiles who convert to Messianic Judaism are not recognized as Jewish by any Jewish movement. However, Jews for Jesus says they "cannot support any efforts by Gentile believers to convert to any type of Judaism."
Belief in Jesus as deity, Son of God, or even a non-divine Christ/Messiah or prophet (as in Islam), is held as incompatible with Judaism by most Jewish religious movements.However, there has been some debate of that point by Jewish scholars. Daniel Boyarin, a Jewish historian of religion and professor of Talmudic culture at UC Berkeley, writes in one of his books:
Most
(if not all) of the ideas and practices of the Jesus movement of the
first century and the beginning of the second century—and even later—can
be safely understood as part of the ideas and practices that we
understand to be "Judaism."... The ideas of Trinity and incarnation, or
certainly the germs of those ideas, were already present among Jewish
believers well before Jesus came on the scene to incarnate in himself,
as it were, those theological notions and take up his messianic calling.
Dan Cohn-Sherbok,
a rabbi of Reform Judaism and professor of Jewish Theology at the
University of Wales, implies that Messianic Judaism should be embraced
in the Jewish community:
...the non-Orthodox rejection
of Messianic Jews is more difficult to comprehend given the
multidimensional character of contemporary Jewish life ... There is
simply no consensus among non-Orthodox Jews concerning the central
tenets of the faith, nor is there any agreement about Jewish observance.
Instead, the various branches of non-Orthodox Judaism embrace a totally
heterogeneous range of viewpoints ... in my view Messianic Judaism
constitutes an innovative, exciting, and extremely interesting
development on the Jewish scene.
In a 2013 Pew Forum
study, 60% of American Jews said that belief in Jesus as the Messiah
was not "compatible with being Jewish", while 34% found it compatible
and 4% did not know.
A 2017 survey that included Messianic Jews "found that 21 percent of
Jewish millennials believe Jesus was 'God in human form who lived among
people in the 1st century.'"
An additional question on faith in the survey found that 14% of
participants identified with Christianity, and 10% believed in a hybrid
of Christian and Jewish beliefs.
In 1993 the Task Force on Missionaries and Cults of the Jewish
Community Relations Council of New York (JCRCNY) issued a statement
which has been endorsed by the four major Jewish denominations: Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, and Reconstructionist Judaism, as well as national Jewish organizations. Based on this statement, the Spiritual Deception Prevention Project at the JCRCNY stated:
On several occasions leaders of the
four major Jewish movements have signed on to joint statements opposing
Hebrew-Christian theology and tactics. In part they said: "Though
Hebrew Christianity claims to be a form of Judaism, it is not ... It
deceptively uses the sacred symbols of Jewish observance ... as a cover
to convert Jews to Christianity, a belief system antithetical to Judaism
... Hebrew Christians are in radical conflict with the communal
interests and the destiny of the Jewish people. They have crossed an
unbridgeable chasm by accepting another religion. Despite this
separation, they continue to attempt to convert their former
co-religionists.
The director of counter-missionary
group Torah Atlanta, Rabbi Efraim Davidson, stated: "Jews for Jesus use
aggressive proselytizing to target disenfranchised or unaffiliated
Jews, Russian immigrants and college students," and that "their
techniques are manipulative, deceptive and anti-Semitic."
Christian
Some Western Christians object to evangelizing Jews because they see Jewish religious practice as valid in and of itself. Some Liberal Protestant denominations have issued statements criticizing evangelism of Jews including the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church USA, which said in 1988 that Jews have their own covenant with God. The Board of Governors of the Long Island Council of Churches opposes proselytizing, and voiced their sentiments in a statement that "noted with alarm" the "subterfuge
and dishonesty" inherent in the "mixing [of] religious symbols in ways
which distort their essential meaning," and named Jews for Jesus as one
of the three groups about whom such behavior was alleged.
Leighton Ford, former vice president of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association and current president of Leighton Ford Ministries, supports the work of Jews for Jesus:
The
first followers of Jesus were all Jews – women and men so touched and
changed by him that they had to tell their friends and neighbors ...
Like their first century counterparts, the people I know in Jews for
Jesus have good news they share lovingly and boldly!
In 2003, the sponsorship of Jews for Jesus by All Souls Church, Langham Place, a conservative evangelical church in London, including a launch event on Rosh Hashanah
to start a UK mission targeting the Jewish community, led to the
Interfaith Alliance UK, a coalition of Jewish, Christian and Islamic
religious leaders, issuing a letter of protest to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Other
The InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington includes Muslims, Jews, and Christian groups. The Conference states that they "support the right of all religions to share their message in the spirit of good will"; however, Rev. Clark Lobenstine has condemned the "proselytizing efforts" of "Jews for Jesus and other messianic Jewish groups." His wording matched the Conference's 1987 "Statement on Proselytism", which makes claims against "groups that have adopted the label of Hebrew Christianity, Messianic Judaism, or Jews for Jesus", so it is unclear which claims are directed at Jews for Jesus in particular.
America's Religions. An Educator's Guide to Beliefs and Practices contains "[a] note about Jews for Jesus, Messianic Jews, Hebrew Christians,
and similar groups: Jews in these groups who have converted to
Christianity but continue to observe various Jewish practices are no
longer considered part of the Jewish community in the usual sense".
Several other organizations oppose the identification of Jews for Jesus as a Jewish group.
Jews for Jesus has been involved in litigation regarding Internet use of its name. In 1998 they sued Steven Brodsky for cybersquatting—registering the domain name jewsforjesus.org for a site criticizing the organization. The domain now belongs to Jews for Jesus and is used for their main site.
In 2005 Jews for Jesus sued Google for allowing a Blogspot user to put up a site at the third-level subdomain jewsforjesus.blogspot.com. In September 2006 Christianity Today
reported: "Jews for Jesus settled out of court with a critical blogger
identified as 'Whistle Blower' on jewsforjesus.blogspot.com. The
evangelistic ministry assumed control of the site."
2006 – misuse of Jackie Mason name
In 2006 comedian and actor Jackie Mason
filed a lawsuit against Jews for Jesus, alleging that the organization
unlawfully distributed a pamphlet that used his name and likeness in a
way that suggested he was a member of the group. Jackie Mason was Jewish
and not associated with Jews for Jesus. Jews for Jesus issued a detailed response to the allegation on their website.
In December 2006, Mason dropped the lawsuit against Jews for
Jesus after they issued a letter of apology to him. The group's
executive director, David Brickner,
stated in the letter to Mason that he wanted "to convey my sincere
apologies for any distress that you felt over our tract." Brickner
continued that he believed its publication was protected by the Constitution,
but the group was willing in the interest of peace and love for Israel
to retire the pamphlet. Mason replied in front of the federal court in
Manhattan where he accepted the apology, "There's no such thing as a Jew
for Jesus. It's like saying a black man is for the KKK. You can't be a table and a chair. You're either a Jew or a Gentile."
That Jew Died for You video
In 2014, Jews for Jesus published a three-minute YouTube video called That Jew Died for You, to coincide with Passover, Holy Week and Holocaust Remembrance Day on 28 April. A long-haired Jesus dragging a large wooden cross appears in the film until an Auschwitz concentration camp guard sends him to the gas chambers and says "just another Jew" in German.
Jews for Jesus said that the objective of the film was for Jesus to be
identified with the victims rather than the perpetrators of the
Holocaust and that "the Holocaust has been used – perhaps more than any other event or topic – to prevent Jewish people from considering the good news of Jesus." Jay Michaelson, writing in The Jewish Daily Forward,
described it as "the most tasteless YouTube video ever" and wrote: "Not
to state the obvious, but it desecrates the memory of six million Jews
to use their suffering as a way to convert Jews to Christianity." Fox News Channel and History refused to play an advertisement for the film.
The Catholic Church does not restrict the term act of contrition to any one formula. Its Handbook on Indulgences mentions examples of approved formulas for an act of contrition the Confiteor, the Psalm De Profundis, the Psalm Miserere, the Gradual Psalms and the Penitential Psalms.
Catholic Church
The Act of Contrition is part of the Sacrament of Penance and is prayed by the penitent after the priest assigns a penance and before he gives the penitent absolution. It is also customarily said especially before one goes to bed at night. It is generally supposed that individuals might have recourse to an Act of Contrition when they find themselves in extremis. Fulton Sheen recounts a story told of John Vianney. When a recent widow bemoaned the death of her husband who committed suicide by jumping off a bridge,
Monsieur le Curé observed, "Remember, Madam, that there is a little
distance between the bridge and the water." By this he meant that her
husband had time to make an Act of Contrition.
This is analogous to the well-known quote, "Between the stirrup and the
ground, he something sought and something found," indicating that mercy
is available when sought. (The original quote is from the sixteenth
century English antiquarian William Camden; the more familiar version is from Graham Greene's 1938 novel Brighton Rock.)
The prayer expresses in words a deeply personal "act" that engages a person's affections and will.
A particular Latin formula and its English translations
Within
the Catholic Church, the term "act of contrition" is often applied to
one particular formula, which is not given expressly in the handbook of Indulgences.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes that "Among the
penitent's acts, contrition occupies first place. Contrition is 'sorrow
of the soul and detestation for the sin committed together with the
resolution not to sin again.' When it arises from a love by which God is
loved above all else, contrition is called 'perfect' (contrition of
charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible" (CCC 1451–1452).
Catholic teaching holds that "imperfect" contrition, is also a
gift of God. Born of fear of eternal damnation or other penalties, it is
nonetheless sufficient to inspire a valid Act of Contrition.
There are different versions of the Act of Contrition, but all
generally include an expression of sorrow, an acknowledgment of
wrongdoing and a promise to amend one's life and avoid sin. The Latin
text and a number of English versions that approximate to the Latin text
are given here.
Latin text
Act of contrition of Pius X
Deus meus, ex toto corde pænitet me omnium meorum peccatorum,
eaque detestor, quia peccando,
non solum pœnas a te iuste statutas promeritus sum,
sed præsertim quia offendi te,
summum bonum, ac dignum qui super omnia diligaris.
Ideo firmiter propono,
adiuvante gratia tua,
de cetero me non peccaturum peccandique occasiones proximas fugiturum.
Amen.
Act of contrition of Paul VI
Deus
meus,ex toto corde me pǽnitet ac dóleo de ómnibus quæ male egi et de
bono quod omísi, quia peccándo offendi Te, summe bonum ac dignum qui
super ómnia diligáris. Fírmiter propóno,
adiuvánte grátia tua,
me pæniténtiam ágere,
de cétero non peccatúrum peccantíque occasiónes fugitúrum.
Per mérita passiónis Salvatóris nostri Iesu Christi, Dómine, misérere.
Traditional version
O My God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee,
and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell,
but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace,
to confess my sins,
to do penance
and to amend my life. Amen.
A popular Catholic American English worldwide version
My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart.
In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good,
I have sinned against You whom I should love above all things,
I firmly intend, with Your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin.
Our Savior Jesus Christ, suffered and died for us.
In His name, my God, have mercy. Amen.
A modern version taught in Religious Education
Lord have mercy on me
Do not look upon my sins
But take away all my guilt
Create in me a clean heart
And renew within me an upright spirit
Amen.
Irish version
O
my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee: and I detest my
sins most sincerely because they displease Thee, my God, Who art so
deserving of all my love for Thy infinite goodness and most amiable
perfections: and I firmly purpose by Thy holy grace never more to offend
Thee.
Nigerian version
“O
my God, because You are so good, I am truly sorry that I have sinned
against You and by the help of Your grace, I will not sin again.”
Ghanaian version
"O
my God, because You are so good. I am very sorry for haven offended You
and by the help of Your Holy Grace, I will not sin again."
Other formulas for acts of contrition
Sacrosanctum concilium
(the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) called for the revision of the
Rite of Penance so that it more clearly express both the nature and
effect of the sacrament.
Consequently, the Rite of Penance was revised in 1973. The revised rite
offered several possible options for making an Act of Contrition. One
may choose one of the general formula prayers or other prayers of
contrition.
The following are some formulas for acts of contrition that differ more considerably from the Latin text given above.
My Lord, I am heartily sorry for all my sins,
help me to live like Jesus and not sin again.
Amen.
Oh my God, I am sorry that I have sinned against You.
Because You are so good, and with Your help,
I will try not to sin again.
Amen.
Oh My God, because You are so good,
I am very sorry that I have sinned against You,
and by the help of Your grace, I will try not sin again.
Amen.
I love You, Jesus, my Love above all things. I repent with my
whole heart for ever having offended You. Never permit me to separate
myself from You again. Grant that I may love You always. Then do with me
what You will. - Alphonsus Liguori
Protestantism
Anglican Communion
In
the Church of England Reconciliation of a Penitent the Act of
Contrition "expresses the desire and intention before God to turn away
from sin and walk in newness of life. The penitent may use his or her
own words or the form provided."
The Anglican Communion, which includes the Church of England, The Episcopal Church
and other member churches, has its own act of contrition, referred to
in the Prayer Book as the General Confession. This is said by the
Congregation en masse during worship. The 1662 Book of Common Prayer contains two versions. The first (for use at Matins and Evensong) is:
ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father;
We have erred, and strayed from Thy ways like lost sheep.
We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.
We have offended against Thy holy laws.
We have left undone those things which we ought to have done;
And we have done those things which we ought not to have done;
And there is no health in us.
But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders.
Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults.
Restore thou them that are penitent; According to Thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And grant, O most merciful Father, for His sake; That we may
hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of Thy
Holy Name. Amen.
The second (for use during Holy Communion) is:
ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Maker of all things, judge of all men;
We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness,
Which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed,
By thought, word, and deed,
Against thy Divine Majesty,
Provoking most justly Thy wrath and indignation against us.
We do earnestly repent,
And are heartily sorry for these our misdoings;
The remembrance of them is grievous unto us;
The burden of them is intolerable.
Have mercy upon us,
Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father;
For Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake,
Forgive us all that is past;
And grant that we may ever hereafter
Serve and please Thee in newness of life,
To the honour and glory of Thy Name;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Modernized forms can be found in other Anglican Prayer Books.
In Northumbria, Celtic missionaries competed with their Roman counterparts. The Celtic and Roman churches disagreed over the date of Easter, baptismal customs, and the style of tonsure worn by monks.[6] King Oswiu of Northumbria summoned the Synod of Whitby in 664. The king decided Northumbria would follow the Roman tradition because Saint Peter and his successors, the bishops of Rome, hold the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
By the late Middle Ages, Catholicism was an essential part of English life and culture. The 9,000 parishes covering all of England were overseen by a hierarchy of deaneries, archdeaconries, dioceses led by bishops, and ultimately the pope who presided over the Catholic Church from Rome. Catholicism taught that the contrite person could cooperate with God towards their salvation by performing good works (see synergism). God's grace was given through the seven sacraments. In the Mass, a priest consecrated bread and wine to become the body and blood of Christ through transubstantiation. The Church taught that, in the name of the congregation, the priest offered to God the same sacrifice of Christ on the cross that provided atonement for the sins of humanity. The Mass was also an offering of prayer by which the living could help souls in purgatory. While penance
removed the guilt attached to sin, Catholicism taught that a penalty
still remained. It was believed that most people would end their lives
with these penalties unsatisfied and would have to spend time in
purgatory. Time in purgatory could be lessened through indulgences and prayers for the dead, which were made possible by the communion of saints.
In 1527, Henry VIII was desperate for a male heir and asked Pope Clement VII to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. When the pope refused, Henry used Parliament to assert royal authority over the English church. In 1533, Parliament passed the Act in Restraint of Appeals,
barring legal cases from being appealed outside England. This allowed
the Archbishop of Canterbury to annul the marriage without reference to
Rome. In November 1534, the Act of Supremacy formally abolished papal authority and declared Henry Supreme Head of the Church of England.
Henry's religious beliefs remained aligned to traditional
Catholicism throughout his reign. In order to secure royal supremacy
over the Church, however, Henry allied himself with Protestants, who
until that time had been treated as heretics. The main doctrine of the Protestant Reformation was justification by faith alone rather than by good works. The logical outcome of this belief is that the Mass, sacraments, charitable acts, prayers to saints, prayers for the dead, pilgrimage, and the veneration of relics do not mediate divine favour. To believe they can would be superstition at best and idolatry at worst.
Between 1536 and 1540, Henry engaged in the dissolution of the monasteries,
which controlled much of the richest land. He disbanded religious
houses, appropriated their income, disposed of their assets, and
provided pensions for the former residents. The properties were sold to
pay for the wars. Historian George W. Bernard argues:
The dissolution of the monasteries
in the late 1530s was one of the most revolutionary events in English
history. There were nearly 900 religious houses in England, around 260
for monks, 300 for regular canons, 142 nunneries and 183 friaries; some
12,000 people in total, 4,000 monks, 3,000 canons, 3,000 friars and
2,000 nuns....one adult man in fifty was in religious orders.
In the reign of Edward VI
(1547–1553), the Church of England underwent an extensive theological
reformation. Justification by faith was made a central teaching. Government-sanctioned iconoclasm led to the destruction of images and relics. Stained glass, shrines, statues, and roods were defaced or destroyed. Church walls were whitewashed and covered with biblical texts condemning idolatry. The most significant reform in Edward's reign was the adoption of an English liturgy to replace the old Latin rites. Written by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the 1549 Book of Common Prayer implicitly taught justification by faith, and rejected the Catholic doctrines of transubstantiation and the sacrifice of the Mass. This was followed by a greatly revised 1552 Book of Common Prayer that was even more Protestant in tone, going so far as to deny the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
During the reign of Mary I
(1553–1558), England was briefly reunited with the Catholic Church.
Mary died childless, so it was left to the new regime of her half-sister
Queen Elizabeth I to resolve the direction of the Church. The Elizabethan Religious Settlement returned the Church to where it stood in 1553 before Edward's death. The Act of Supremacy made the monarch the Church's supreme governor. The Act of Uniformity restored a slightly altered 1552 Book of Common Prayer. In 1571, the Thirty-nine Articles
received parliamentary approval as a doctrinal statement for the
Church. The settlement ensured the Church of England was Protestant, but
it was unclear what kind of Protestantism was being adopted. The prayer book's eucharistic theology was vague. The words of administration neither affirmed nor denied the real presence. Perhaps, a spiritual presence
was implied, since Article 28 of the Thirty-nine Articles taught that
the body of Christ was eaten "only after an heavenly and spiritual
manner". Nevertheless, there was enough ambiguity to allow later theologians to articulate various versions of Anglican eucharistic theology.
The Church of England was the established church
(constitutionally established by the state with the head of state as
its supreme governor). The exact nature of the relationship between
church and state would be a source of continued friction into the next
century.
Struggle for control of the church persisted throughout the reigns of James I and his son Charles I, culminating in the outbreak of the First English Civil War in 1642. The two opposing factions consisted of Puritans,
who sought to "purify" the church and enact more far-reaching
Protestant reforms, and those who wanted to retain traditional beliefs
and practices. In a period when many believed "true religion" and "good
government" were the same thing, religious disputes often included a
political element, one example being the struggle over bishops. In
addition to their religious function, bishops acted as state censors,
able to ban sermons and writings considered objectionable, while lay
people could be tried by church courts for crimes including blasphemy, heresy, fornication and other 'sins of the flesh', as well as matrimonial or inheritance disputes. They also sat in the House of Lords and often blocked legislation opposed by the Crown; their ousting from Parliament by the 1640 Clergy Act was a major step on the road to war.
Following Royalist defeat in 1646, the Episcopacy was formally abolished. In 1649, the Commonwealth of England outlawed a number of former practices and Presbyterian structures replaced the episcopate. The 39 Articles were replaced by the Westminster Confession,
the Book of Common Prayer by the Directory of Public Worship. Despite
this, about one quarter of English clergy refused to conform to this
form of state presbyterianism. It was also opposed by religious Independents who rejected the very idea of state-mandated religion, and included Congregationalists like Oliver Cromwell, as well as Baptists, who were especially well represented in the New Model Army.
After the Stuart Restoration in 1660, Parliament restored the Church of England to a form not far removed from the Elizabethan version. Until James II of England was ousted by the Glorious Revolution in November 1688, many Nonconformists still sought to negotiate terms that would allow them to re-enter the Church. In order to secure his political position, William III of England
ended these discussions and the Tudor ideal of encompassing all the
people of England in one religious organisation was abandoned. The
religious landscape of England assumed its present form, with the
Anglican established church occupying the middle ground and
Nonconformists continuing their existence outside. One result of the
Restoration was the ousting of 2,000 parish ministers who had not been
ordained by bishops in the apostolic succession or who had been ordained
by ministers in presbyter's orders. Official suspicion and legal
restrictions continued well into the 19th century. Roman Catholics,
perhaps 5% of the English population (down from 20% in 1600) were
grudgingly tolerated, having had little or no official representation
after the Pope's excommunication of Queen Elizabeth in 1570, though the
Stuarts were sympathetic to them. By the end of 18th century they had
dwindled to 1% of the population, mostly amongst upper middle-class
gentry, their tenants and extended families.
Union with the Church of Ireland
By the Fifth Article of the Union with Ireland 1800, the Church of England and Church of Ireland were united into "one Protestant Episcopal church, to be called, the United Church of England and Ireland".
Although "the continuance and preservation of the said united church
... [was] deemed and taken to be an essential and fundamental part of
the union", the Irish Church Act 1869 separated the Irish part of the church again and disestablished it, the Act coming into effect on 1 January 1871.
As the English Empire (after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, the British Empire) expanded, English (after 1707, British)
colonists and colonial administrators took the established church
doctrines and practices together with ordained ministry and formed
overseas branches of the Church of England.
The Diocese of Nova Scotia was created on 11 August 1787 by Letters Patent of George III which "erected the Province of Nova Scotia into a bishop's see" and these also named Charles Inglis as first bishop of the see.[40]
The diocese was the first Church of England see created outside England
and Wales (i.e. the first colonial diocese). At this point, the see
covered present-day New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince
Edward Island and Quebec. From 1825 to 1839, it included the nine parishes of Bermuda, subsequently transferred to the Diocese of Newfoundland.
As they developed or, beginning with the United States of
America, became sovereign or independent states, many of their churches
became separate organisationally but remained linked to the Church of
England through the Anglican Communion. In the provinces that made up Canada, the church operated as the "Church of England in Canada" until 1955 when it became the Anglican Church of Canada.
In Bermuda, the oldest remaining British overseas possession, the
first Church of England services were performed by the Reverend Richard
Buck, one of the survivors of the 1609 wreck of the Sea Venture which initiated Bermuda's permanent settlement. The nine parishes of the Church of England in Bermuda, each with its own church and glebe land,
rarely had more than a pair of ordained ministers to share between them
until the 19th century. From 1825 to 1839, Bermuda's parishes were
attached to the See of Nova Scotia.
Bermuda was then grouped into the new Diocese of Newfoundland and
Bermuda from 1839. In 1879, the Synod of the Church of England in
Bermuda was formed. At the same time, a Diocese of Bermuda became
separate from the Diocese of Newfoundland, but both continued to be grouped under the Bishop of Newfoundland and Bermuda until 1919, when Newfoundland and Bermuda each received its own bishop.
The first Anglican missionaries arrived in Nigeria in 1842 and
the first Anglican Nigerian was consecrated a bishop in 1864. However,
the arrival of a rival group of Anglican missionaries in 1887 led to
infighting that slowed the Church's growth. In this large African
colony, by 1900 there were only 35,000 Anglicans, about 0.2% of the
population. However, by the late 20th century the Church of Nigeria was the fastest growing of all Anglican churches, reaching about 18 percent of the local population by 2000.
The Church established its presence in Hong Kong and Macau in 1843. In 1951, the Diocese of Hong Kong and Macao became an extra-provincial diocese, and in 1998 it became a province of the Anglican Communion, under the name Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui.
From 1796 to 1818 the Church began operating in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon),
following the 1796 start of British colonisation, when the first
services were held for the British civil and military personnel. In
1799, the first Colonial Chaplain was appointed, following which CMS and
SPG missionaries began their work, in 1818 and 1844 respectively.
Subsequently the Church of Ceylon was established: in 1845 the diocese of Colombo was inaugurated, with the appointment of James Chapman as Bishop of Colombo. It served as an extra-provincial jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who served as its Metropolitan.
Early 21st century
Deposition from holy orders overturned
Under the guidance of Rowan Williams
and with significant pressure from clergy union representatives, the
ecclesiastical penalty for convicted felons to be defrocked was set
aside from the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003.
The clergy union argued that the penalty was unfair to victims of
hypothetical miscarriages of criminal justice, because the
ecclesiastical penalty is considered irreversible. Although clerics can
still be banned for life from ministry, they remain ordained as priests.
Continued decline in attendance and church response
Bishop Sarah Mullally
has insisted that declining numbers at services should not necessarily
be a cause of despair for churches, because people may still encounter
God without attending a service in a church; for example hearing the
Christian message through social media sites or in a café run as a
community project.
Additionally, 9.7 million people visit at least one of its churches
every year and 1 million students are educated at Church of England
schools (which number 4,700).
In 2019, an estimated 10 million people visited a cathedral and an
additional "1.3 million people visited Westminster Abbey, where 99% of
visitors paid / donated for entry". Nevertheless, the archbishops of Canterbury and York
warned in January 2015 that the Church of England would no longer be
able to carry on in its current form unless the downward spiral in
membership were somehow to be reversed, as typical Sunday attendance had
halved to 800,000 in the previous 40 years:
The urgency of the challenge facing
us is not in doubt. Attendance at Church of England services has
declined at an average of one per cent per annum over recent decades
and, in addition, the age profile of our membership has become
significantly older than that of the population... Renewing and
reforming aspects of our institutional life is a necessary but far from
sufficient response to the challenges facing the Church of England. ...
The age profile of our clergy has also been increasing. Around 40 per
cent of parish clergy are due to retire over the next decade or so.
Between 1969 and 2010, almost 1,800 church buildings, roughly 11% of the stock, were closed (so-called "redundant churches"); the majority (70%) in the first half of the period; only 514 being closed between 1990 and 2010. Some active use was being made of about half of the closed churches. By 2019 the rate of closure had steadied at around 20 to 25 per year (0.2%); some being replaced by new places of worship. Additionally, in 2018 the church announced a £27 million growth programme to create 100 new churches.
Low salaries
In
2015 the Church of England admitted that it was embarrassed to be
paying staff under the living wage. The Church of England had previously
campaigned for all employers to pay this minimum amount. The archbishop
of Canterbury acknowledged it was not the only area where the church
"fell short of its standards".
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic
had a sizeable effect on church attendance, with attendance in 2020 and
2021 dropping well below that of 2019. By 2022, the first full year
without substantial restrictions related to the pandemic, numbers were
still notably down on pre-pandemic participation. According to the 2022
release of "Statistics for Mission" by the church, the median size of
each church's "Worshipping Community" (those who attend in person or
online at least as regularly as once a month) now stands at 37 people,
with average weekly attendance having declined from 34 to 25; while
Easter and Christmas services have seen falls from 51 to 38 and 80 to 56
individuals respectively. Examples of wider declines across the whole
church include:
The canon law of the Church of England identifies the Christian scriptures as the source of its doctrine. In addition, doctrine is also derived from the teachings of the Church Fathers and ecumenical councils (as well as the ecumenical creeds) in so far as these agree with scripture. This doctrine is expressed in the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordinal containing the rites for the ordination of deacons, priests, and the consecration of bishops. Unlike other traditions, the Church of England has no single theologian that it can look to as a founder. However, Richard Hooker's appeal to scripture, church tradition, and reason as sources of authority, as well as the work of Thomas Cranmer, which inspired the doctrinal status of the church, continue to inform Anglican identity.
The Church of England's doctrinal character today is largely the
result of the Elizabethan Settlement, which sought to establish a
comprehensive middle way between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
The Church of England affirms the protestant reformation principle that
scripture contains all things necessary to salvation and is the final
arbiter in doctrinal matters. The Thirty-nine Articles are the church's
only official confessional statement. Though not a complete system of
doctrine, the articles highlight areas of agreement with Lutheran and Reformed positions, while differentiating Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism and Anabaptism.
While embracing some themes of the Protestant Reformation, the
Church of England also maintains Catholic traditions of the ancient
church and teachings of the Church Fathers, unless these are considered
contrary to scripture. It accepts the decisions of the first four
ecumenical councils concerning the Trinity and the Incarnation. The Church of England also preserves catholic order by adhering to episcopal polity,
with ordained orders of bishops, priests and deacons. There are
differences of opinion within the Church of England over the necessity
of episcopacy. Some consider it essential, while others feel it is
needed for the proper ordering of the church.
In sum these express the 'Via Media' viewpoint that the first five
centuries of doctrinal development and church order as approved are
acceptable as a yardstick by which to gauge authentic catholicity, as
minimum and sufficient; Anglicanism did not emerge as the result of
charismatic leaders with particular doctrines. It is light on details
compared to Roman Catholic, Reformed and Lutheran teachings. The Bible,
the Creeds, Apostolic Order, and the administration of the Sacraments
are sufficient to establish catholicity. The Reformation in England was
initially much concerned about doctrine but the Elizabethan Settlement
tried to put a stop to doctrinal contentions. The proponents of further
changes, nonetheless, tried to get their way by making changes in Church
Order (abolition of bishops), governance (Canon Law) and liturgy ('too
Catholic'). They did not succeed because the monarchy and the Church
resisted and the majority of the population were indifferent. Moreover,
"despite all the assumptions of the Reformation founders of that Church,
it had retained a catholic character." The Elizabethan Settlement had
created a cuckoo in a nest..." a Protestant theology and program within a
largely pre-Reformation Catholic structure whose continuing life would
arouse a theological interest in the Catholicism that had created it;
and would result in the rejection of predestinarian theology in favor of sacraments, especially the eucharist, ceremonial, and anti-Calvinist doctrine".
The existence of cathedrals "without substantial alteration" and "where
the "old devotional world cast its longest shadow for the future of the
ethos that would become Anglicanism," This is "One of the great mysteries of the English Reformation,"
that there was no complete break with the past but a muddle that was
per force turned into a virtue. The story of the English Reformation is
the tale of retreat from the Protestant advance of 1550 which could not
proceed further in the face of the opposition of the institution which
was rooted in the medieval past, and the adamant opposition of Queen Elizabeth I.
The Church of England has, as one of its distinguishing marks, a breadth of opinion from liberal to conservative clergy and members.
This tolerance has allowed Anglicans who emphasise the catholic
tradition and others who emphasise the reformed tradition to coexist.
The three schools of thought (or parties) in the Church of England are sometimes called high church (or Anglo-Catholic), low church (or evangelical Anglican) and broad church (or liberal).
The high church party places importance on the Church of England's
continuity with the pre-Reformation Catholic Church, adherence to
ancient liturgical usages and the sacerdotal nature of the priesthood.
As their name suggests, Anglo-Catholics maintain many traditional
catholic practices and liturgical forms.
The Catholic tradition, strengthened and reshaped from the 1830s by the
Oxford movement, has stressed the importance of the visible Church and
its sacraments and the belief that the ministry of bishops, priests and
deacons is a sign and instrument of the Church of England's Catholic and
apostolic identity. The low church party is more Protestant in both ceremony and theology.
It has emphasized the significance of the Protestant aspects of the
Church of England's identity, stressing the importance of the authority
of Scripture, preaching, justification by faith and personal conversion.
Historically, the term 'broad church' has been used to describe those
of middle-of-the-road ceremonial preferences who lean theologically
towards liberal protestantism.
The liberal broad church tradition has emphasized the importance of the
use of reason in theological exploration. It has stressed the need to
develop Christian belief and practice in order to respond creatively to
wider advances in human knowledge and understanding and the importance
of social and political action in forwarding God's kingdom.
The balance between these strands of churchmanship is not static: in
2013, 40% of Church of England worshippers attended evangelical churches
(compared with 26% in 1989), and 83% of very large congregations were
evangelical. Such churches were also reported to attract higher numbers
of men and young adults than others.
Worship and liturgy
In 1604, James I ordered an English language translation of the Bible known as the King James Version, which was published in 1611 and authorised for use in parishes, although it was not an "official" version per se. The Church of England's official book of liturgy as established in English Law is the 1662 version of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP). In the year 2000, the General Synod approved a modern liturgical book, Common Worship, which can be used as an alternative to the BCP. Like its predecessor, the 1980 Alternative Service Book, it differs from the Book of Common Prayer
in providing a range of alternative services, mostly in modern
language, although it does include some BCP-based forms as well, for
example Order Two for Holy Communion. (This is a revision of the BCP
service, altering some words and allowing the insertion of some other
liturgical texts such as the Agnus Dei before communion.) The Order One rite follows the pattern of more modern liturgical scholarship.
The liturgies are organised according to the traditional liturgical year and the calendar of saints. The sacraments of baptism and the eucharist are generally thought necessary to salvation. Infant baptism is practised. At a later age, individuals baptised as infants receive confirmation
by a bishop, at which time they reaffirm the baptismal promises made by
their parents or sponsors. The eucharist, consecrated by a thanksgiving
prayer including Christ's Words of Institution,
is believed to be "a memorial of Christ's once-for-all redemptive acts
in which Christ is objectively present and effectually received in
faith".
The use of hymns and music in the Church of England has changed dramatically over the centuries. Traditional Choral evensong is a staple of most cathedrals. The style of psalm chanting harks back to the Church of England's pre-reformation roots. During the 18th century, clergy such as Charles Wesley introduced their own styles of worship with poetic hymns.
In the latter half of the 20th century, the influence of the Charismatic Movement significantly altered the worship traditions of numerous Church of England parishes, primarily affecting those of evangelical persuasion. These churches now adopt a contemporary worship form of service, with minimal liturgical or ritual elements, and incorporating contemporary worship music.
Just as the Church of England has a large conservative or "traditionalist" wing, it also has many liberal members and clergy. Approximately one third of clergy "doubt or disbelieve in the physical resurrection". Others, such as Giles Fraser, a contributor to The Guardian, have argued for an allegorical interpretation of the virgin birth of Jesus. The Independent
reported in 2014 that, according to a YouGov survey of Church of
England clergy, "as many as 16 per cent are unclear about God and two
per cent think it is no more than a human construct." Moreover, many congregations are seeker-friendly environments. For example, one report from the Church Mission Society
suggested that the church open up "a pagan church where Christianity
[is] very much in the centre" to reach out to spiritual people.
The Church of England is launching a project on "gendered
language" in Spring 2023 in efforts to "study the ways in which God is
referred to and addressed in liturgy and worship".
Women's ministry
Women
were appointed as deaconesses from 1861, but they could not function
fully as deacons and were not considered ordained clergy. Women have
historically been able to serve as lay readers. During the First World War, some women were appointed as lay readers, known as "bishop's messengers",
who also led missions and ran churches in the absence of men. After the
war, no women were appointed as lay readers until 1969.
Legislation authorising the ordination of women as deacons was passed in 1986 and they were first ordained in 1987. The ordination of women as priests was approved by the General Synod in 1992 and began in 1994.
In 2010, for the first time in the history of the Church of England,
more women than men were ordained as priests (290 women and 273 men), but in the next two years, ordinations of men again exceeded those of women.
In July 2005, the synod voted to "set in train" the process of
allowing the consecration of women as bishops. In February 2006, the
synod voted overwhelmingly for the "further exploration" of possible
arrangements for parishes that did not want to be directly under the
authority of a bishop who is a woman.
On 7 July 2008, the synod voted to approve the ordination of women as
bishops and rejected moves for alternative episcopal oversight for those
who do not accept the ministry of bishops who are women.
Actual ordinations of women to the episcopate required further
legislation, which was narrowly rejected in a General Synod vote in
November 2012. On 20 November 2013, the General Synod voted overwhelmingly in support
of a plan to allow the ordination of women as bishops, with 378 in
favour, 8 against and 25 abstentions.
On 14 July 2014, the General Synod approved the ordination of
women as bishops. The House of Bishops recorded 37 votes in favour, two
against with one abstention. The House of Clergy had 162 in favour, 25
against and four abstentions. The House of Laity voted 152 for, 45
against with five abstentions.
This legislation had to be approved by the Ecclesiastical Committee of
the Parliament before it could be finally implemented at the November
2014 synod. In December 2014, Libby Lane was announced as the first woman to become a bishop in the Church of England. She was consecrated as a bishop in January 2015. In July 2015, Rachel Treweek was the first woman to become a diocesan bishop in the Church of England when she became the Bishop of Gloucester. She and Sarah Mullally, Bishop of Crediton, were the first women to be ordained as bishops at Canterbury Cathedral. Treweek later made headlines by calling for gender-inclusive language, saying that "God is not to be seen as male. God is God."
In May 2018, the Diocese of London consecrated Dame Sarah Mullally as the first woman to serve as the Bishop of London. Bishop Sarah Mullally occupies the third most senior position in the Church of England. Mullally has described herself as a feminist and will ordain both men and women to the priesthood. She is also considered by some to be a theological liberal. On women's reproductive rights, Mullally describes herself as pro-choice while also being personally pro-life.
On marriage, she supports the current stance of the Church of England
that marriage is between a man and a woman, but also said that: "It is a
time for us to reflect on our tradition and scripture, and together say
how we can offer a response that is about it being inclusive love."[95]
The Church of England has been discussing same-sex marriages and LGBT clergy.The church holds that marriage is a union of one man with one woman.
The church does not allow clergy to perform same-sex marriages, but in
February 2023 approved of blessings for same-sex couples following a
civil marriage or civil partnership. The church teaches "Same-sex relationships often embody genuine mutuality and fidelity." In January 2023, the Bishops approved "prayers of thanksgiving, dedication and for God's blessing for same-sex couples."
The commended prayers of blessing for same-sex couples, known as
"Prayers of Love and Faith," may be used during ordinary church
services, and in November 2023 General Synod voted to authorise
"standalone" blessings for same-sex couples on a trial basis, while
permanent authorisation will require additional steps. The church also officially supports celibate civil partnerships; "We believe that Civil Partnerships still have a place, including for some Christian LGBTI couples who see them as a way of gaining legal recognition of their relationship."
Civil partnerships for clergy have been allowed since 2005, so long as they remain sexually abstinent, and the church extends pensions to clergy in same-sex civil partnerships.
In a missive to clergy, the church communicated that "there was a need
for committed same-sex couples to be given recognition and
'compassionate attention' from the Church, including special prayers." "There is no prohibition on prayers being said in church or there being a 'service'" after a civil union.
After same-sex marriage was legalised, the church sought continued
availability of civil unions, saying "The Church of England recognises
that same-sex relationships often embody fidelity and mutuality. Civil
partnerships enable these Christian virtues to be recognised socially
and legally in a proper framework."
In 2014, the bishops released guidelines that permit "more informal kind of prayer" for couples.
In the guidelines, "gay couples who get married will be able to ask for
special prayers in the Church of England after their wedding, the
bishops have agreed." In 2016, the bishop of Grantham, Nicholas Chamberlain, announced that he is gay, in a same-sex relationship and celibate, becoming the first bishop to do so in the church.
The church had decided in 2013 that gay clergy in civil partnerships so
long as they remain sexually abstinent could become bishops.
"The House [of Bishops] has confirmed that clergy in civil
partnerships, and living in accordance with the teaching of the church
on human sexuality, can be considered as candidates for the episcopate."
In 2017, the House of Clergy voted against the motion to "take
note" of the bishops' report defining marriage as between a man and a
woman. Due to passage in all three houses being required, the motion was rejected.
After General Synod rejected the motion, the archbishops of Canterbury
and York called for "radical new Christian inclusion" that is "based on
good, healthy, flourishing relationships, and in a proper 21st century
understanding of being human and of being sexual." The church officially opposes "conversion therapy", a practice which attempts to change a gay or lesbian person's sexual orientation, calling it unethical and supports the banning of "conversion therapy" in the UK. The Diocese of Hereford
approved a motion calling for the church "to create a set of formal
services and prayers to bless those who have had a same-sex marriage or
civil partnership."
In 2022, "The House [of Bishops] also agreed to the formation of a
Pastoral Consultative Group to support and advise dioceses on pastoral
responses to circumstances that arise concerning LGBTI+ clergy,
ordinands, lay leaders and the lay people in their care."
Regarding transgender issues,
the 2017 General Synod voted in favour of a motion saying that
transgender people should be "welcomed and affirmed in their parish
church". The motion also asked the bishops "to look into special services for transgender people." The bishops initially said "the House notes that the Affirmation of Baptismal Faith, found in Common Worship, is an ideal liturgical rite which trans people can use to mark this moment of personal renewal."The Bishops also authorised services of celebration to mark a gender transition that will be included in formal liturgy.Transgender people may marry in the Church of England after legally making a transition. "Since the Gender Recognition Act 2004,
trans people legally confirmed in their gender identity under its
provisions are able to marry someone of the opposite sex in their parish
church." The church further decided that same-gender couples may remain married when one spouse experiences gender transition provided that the spouses identified as opposite genders at the time of the marriage. Since 2000, the church has allowed priests to undergo gender transition and remain in office. The church has ordained openly transgender clergy since 2005. The Church of England ordained the church's first openly non-binary priest.
In January 2023, a meeting of the Bishops of the Church of
England rejected demands for clergy to conduct same-sex marriages.
However, proposals would be put to the General Synod that clergy should
be able to hold church blessings for same-sex civil marriages, albeit on
a voluntary basis for individual clergy. This comes as the Church
continued to be split on same-sex marriages.
In February 2023, ten archbishops of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches released a statement stating that they had broken communion and no longer recognised Justin Welby as "the first among equals" or "primus inter pares"
in the Anglican Communion in response to the General Synod's decision
to approve the blessing of same-sex couples following a civil marriage
or partnership, leading to questions as to the status of the Church of
England as the mother church of the international Anglican Communion.
In November 2023, the General Synod narrowly voted to allow church blessings for same-sex couples on a trial basis. In December 2023, the first blessings of same-sex couples began in the Church of England.
Bioethics issues
The
Church of England is generally opposed to abortion but believes "there
can be strictly limited conditions under which abortion may be morally
preferable to any available alternative".
The church also opposes euthanasia. Its official stance is that "While
acknowledging the complexity of the issues involved in assisted
dying/suicide and voluntary euthanasia, the Church of England is opposed
to any change in the law or in medical practice that would make
assisted dying/suicide or voluntary euthanasia permissible in law or
acceptable in practice." It also states that "Equally, the Church shares
the desire to alleviate physical and psychological suffering, but
believes that assisted dying/suicide and voluntary euthanasia are not
acceptable means of achieving these laudable goals."
In 2014, George Carey, a former archbishop of Canterbury, announced
that he had changed his stance on euthanasia and now advocated
legalising "assisted dying".
On embryonic stem-cell research, the church has announced "cautious
acceptance to the proposal to produce cytoplasmic hybrid embryos for
research".
In the 19th century, English law required the burial of people who had died by suicide to occur only between the hours of 9 p.m. and midnight and without religious rites.
The Church of England permitted the use of alternative burial services
for people who had died by suicide. In 2017, the Church of England
changed its rules to permit the full, standard Christian burial service
regardless of whether a person had died by suicide.
In parts of Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle
two-thirds of babies are born to poverty and have poorer life chances,
also a life expectancy 15 years lower than babies born in the best-off
fortunate communities.
The deep-rooted unfairness in our
society is highlighted by these stark statistics. Children being born in
this country, just a few miles apart, couldn't witness a more wildly
differing start to life. In child poverty terms, we live in one of the
most unequal countries in the western world. We want people to
understand where their own community sits alongside neighbouring
communities. The disparity is often shocking but it's crucial that,
through greater awareness, people from all backgrounds come together to
think about what could be done to support those born into poverty. [Paul
Hackwood, the Chair of Trustees at Church Urban Fund]
Action on hunger
Many
prominent people in the Church of England have spoken out against
poverty and welfare cuts in the United Kingdom. Twenty-seven bishops are
among 43 Christian leaders who signed a letter which urged David Cameron to make sure people have enough to eat.
We often hear talk of hard choices.
Surely few can be harder than that faced by the tens of thousands of
older people who must 'heat or eat' each winter, harder than those faced
by families whose wages have stayed flat while food prices
have gone up 30% in just five years. Yet beyond even this we must, as a
society, face up to the fact that over half of people using food banks
have been put in that situation by cutbacks to and failures in the
benefit system, whether it be payment delays or punitive sanctions.[159]
Thousands of UK citizens use food banks. The church's campaign to end hunger considers this "truly shocking" and called for a national day of fasting on 4 April 2014.
Membership
As of 2009, the Church of England estimated that it had approximately 26 million baptised members – about 47% of the English population. This number has remained consistent since 2001 and was cited again in 2013 and 2014. According to a 2016 study published by the Journal of Anglican Studies,
the Church of England continued to claim 26 million baptised members,
while it also had approximately 1.7 million active baptised members. Due to its status as the established church, in general, anyone may be married, have their children baptised or their funeral in their local parish church, regardless of whether they are baptised or regular churchgoers.
Between 1890 and 2001, churchgoing in the United Kingdom declined steadily.
In the years 1968 to 1999, Anglican Sunday church attendances almost
halved, from 3.5 percent of the population to 1.9 per cent. By 2014, Sunday church attendances had declined further to 1.4 per cent of the population.
One study published in 2008 suggested that if current trends continued,
Sunday attendances could fall to 350,000 in 2030 and 87,800 in 2050.
The Church of England releases an annual publication, Statistics for
Mission, detailing numerous criteria relating to participation with the
church. Below is a snapshot of several key metrics from every five years
since 2001 (2022 has been used in place of 2021 to avoid the impact of
Covid restrictions).
In
2020, there were almost 20,000 active clergy serving in the Church of
England, including 7,200 retired clergy who continued to serve. In that
year, 580 were ordained (330 in stipendiary posts and 250 in
self-supporting parochial posts) and a further 580 ordinands began their
training. In that year, 33% of those in ordained ministry were female, an increase from the 26% reported in 2016.
The British monarch has the constitutional title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
The canon law of the Church of England states, "We acknowledge that the
King's most excellent Majesty, acting according to the laws of the
realm, is the highest power under God in this kingdom, and has supreme
authority over all persons in all causes, as well ecclesiastical as
civil." In practice this power is often exercised through Parliament and on the advice of the Prime Minister.
The church is structured as follows (from the lowest level upwards):
Parish is the most local level, often consisting of one church building (a parish church)
and community, although many parishes are joining forces in a variety
of ways for financial reasons. The parish is looked after by a parish priest who for historical or legal reasons may be called by one of the following offices: vicar, rector, priest in charge,
team rector, team vicar. The first, second, fourth and fifth of these
may also be known as the 'incumbent'. The running of the parish is the
joint responsibility of the incumbent and the parochial church council
(PCC), which consists of the parish clergy and elected representatives
from the congregation. The Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe is not
formally divided into parishes.
There are a number of local churches that do not have a parish. In urban areas there are a number of proprietary chapels
(mostly built in the 19th century to cope with urbanisation and growth
in population). Also in more recent years there are increasingly church plants and fresh expressions
of church, whereby new congregations are planted in locations such as
schools or pubs to spread the Gospel of Christ in non-traditional ways.
Deanery, e.g., Lewisham or Runnymede. This is the area for which a Rural Dean
(or area dean) is responsible. It consists of a number of parishes in a
particular district. The rural dean is usually the incumbent of one of
the constituent parishes. The parishes each elect lay (non-ordained)
representatives to the deanery synod. Deanery synod members each have a vote in the election of representatives to the diocesan synod.
Archdeaconry, e.g., the seven in the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe. This is the area under the jurisdiction of an archdeacon. It consists of a number of deaneries.
Diocese, e.g., Diocese of Durham, Diocese of Guildford, Diocese of St Albans. This is the area under the jurisdiction of a diocesan bishop, e.g., the bishops of Durham, Guildford and St Albans, and will have a cathedral. There may be one or more suffragan bishops within the diocese who assist the diocesan bishop in his ministry, e.g.,
in Guildford diocese, the Bishop of Dorking. In some very large
dioceses a legal measure has been enacted to create "episcopal areas",
where the diocesan bishop runs one such area himself and appoints "area
bishops" to run the other areas as mini-dioceses, legally delegating
many of his powers to the area bishops. Dioceses with episcopal areas
include London, Chelmsford, Oxford, Chichester, Southwark, and Lichfield. The bishops work with an elected body of lay and ordained representatives, known as the Diocesan Synod, to run the diocese. A diocese is subdivided into a number of archdeaconries.
Province, i.e., Canterbury or York. This is the area under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, i.e.
the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. Decision-making within the
province is the responsibility of the General Synod (see also above). A
province is subdivided into dioceses.
Primacy, i.e., Church of England. The Archbishop of York's title of "Primate of England" is essentially honorific and carries with it no powers beyond those inherent in being Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Province of York.[183] The Archbishop of Canterbury, on the other hand, the "Primate of All England", has powers that extend over the whole of England, and also Wales—for example, through his Faculty Office
he may grant a "special marriage licence" permitting the parties to
marry otherwise than in a church: for example, in a school, college or
university chapel; or anywhere, if one of the parties to the intended marriage is in danger of imminent death.
Royal Peculiar, a small number of churches which are more closely associated with the Crown, for example Westminster Abbey,
and a very few more closely associated with the law which although
conforming to the rites of the Church, are outside episcopal
jurisdiction.
All rectors and vicars are appointed by patrons,
who may be private individuals, corporate bodies such as cathedrals,
colleges or trusts, or by the bishop or directly by the Crown. No clergy
can be instituted and inducted into a parish without swearing the Oath
of Allegiance to His Majesty, and taking the Oath of Canonical Obedience
"in all things lawful and honest" to the bishop. Usually they are
instituted to the benefice by the bishop and then inducted by the
archdeacon into the possession of the benefice property—church and
parsonage. Curates
(assistant clergy) are appointed by rectors and vicars, or if
priests-in-charge by the bishop after consultation with the patron.
Cathedral clergy (normally a dean
and a varying number of residentiary canons who constitute the
cathedral chapter) are appointed either by the Crown, the bishop, or by
the dean and chapter themselves. Clergy officiate in a diocese either
because they hold office as beneficed clergy or are licensed by the
bishop when appointed, or simply with permission.
Primates
The most senior bishop of the Church of England is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the metropolitan
of the southern province of England, the Province of Canterbury. He has
the status of Primate of All England. He is the focus of unity for the
worldwide Anglican Communion of independent national or regional
churches. Justin Welby has been Archbishop of Canterbury since the confirmation of his election on 4 February 2013.
The second most senior bishop is the Archbishop of York,
who is the metropolitan of the northern province of England, the
Province of York. For historical reasons (relating to the time of York's
control by the Danes) he is referred to as the Primate of England. Stephen Cottrell became Archbishop of York in 2020. The Bishop of London, the Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Winchester are ranked in the next three positions, insofar as the holders of those sees automatically become members of the House of Lords.
Diocesan bishops
The
process of appointing diocesan bishops is complex, due to historical
reasons balancing hierarchy against democracy, and is handled by the Crown Nominations Committee which submits names to the Prime Minister (acting on behalf of the Crown) for consideration.[190]
The Church of England has a legislative body, General Synod. This can create two types of legislation, measures and canons. Measures have to be approved but cannot be amended by the British Parliament before receiving the Royal Assent and becoming part of the law of England. Although it is the established
church in England only, its measures must be approved by both Houses of
Parliament including the non-English members. Canons require Royal
Licence and Royal Assent, but form the law of the church, rather than
the law of the land.
Another assembly is the Convocation of the English Clergy,
which is older than the General Synod and its predecessor the Church
Assembly. By the 1969 Synodical Government Measure almost all of the
Convocations' functions were transferred to the General Synod.
Additionally, there are Diocesan Synods and deanery synods, which are the governing bodies of the divisions of the Church.
Of the 42 diocesan archbishops and bishops in the Church of England, 26 are permitted to sit in the House of Lords. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York automatically have seats, as do the bishops of London, Durham and Winchester. The remaining 21 seats are filled in order of seniority by date of consecration. It may take a diocesan bishop a number of years to reach the House of Lords, at which point he or she becomes a Lord Spiritual. The Bishop of Sodor and Man and the Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe are not eligible to sit in the House of Lords as their dioceses lie outside the United Kingdom.
The 2020 report from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
found several cases of sexual abuse within the Church of England, and
concluded that the Church did not protect children from sexual abuse,
and allowed abusers to hide. The Church spent more effort defending alleged abusers than supporting victims or protecting children and young people. Allegations were not taken seriously, and in some cases clergymen were ordained even with a history of child sex abuse. Bishop Peter Ball was convicted in October 2015 on several charges of indecent assault against young adult men.
In June 2023, the Archbishops' Council
dismissed the three board members of the Independent Safeguarding
Board, which was set up in 2021 "to hold the Church to account, publicly
if needs be, for any failings which are preventing good safeguarding
from happening". A statement issued by the Archbishops of Canterbury and
York referred to there being "no prospect of resolving the disagreement
and that it is getting in the way of the vital work of serving victims
and survivors". Jasvinder Sanghera and Steve Reeves, the two independent members of the board, had complained about interference with their work by the Church. The Bishop of Birkenhead, Julie Conalty, speaking to BBC Radio 4
in connection with the dismissals, said: "I think culturally we are
resistant as a church to accountability, to criticism. And therefore I
don't entirely trust the church, even though I'm a key part of it and a
leader within it, because I see the way the wind blows is always in a
particular direction."
On 20 July 2023, it was announced that the archbishops of Canterbury and York had appointed Alexis Jay to provide proposals for an independent system of safeguarding for the Church of England.
Although an established church, the Church of England does not
receive any direct government support, except some funding for building
work. Donations comprise its largest source of income, and it also
relies heavily on the income from its various historic endowments. In
2005, the Church of England had estimated total outgoings of around
£900 million.
The Church of England manages an investment portfolio which is worth more than £8 billion.
Online church directories
The Church of England runs A Church Near You,
an online directory of churches. A user-edited resource, it currently
lists more than 16,000 churches and has 20,000 editors in 42 dioceses.
The directory enables parishes to maintain accurate location, contact
and event information, which is shared with other websites and mobile apps. The site allows the public to find their local worshipping community, and offers churches free resources, such as hymns, videos and social media graphics.
The Church Heritage Record includes information on over
16,000 church buildings, including architectural history, archaeology,
art history, and the surrounding natural environment. It can be searched by elements including church name, diocese, date of construction, footprint size, listing grade, and church type. The types of church identified include:
Major Parish Church: "some of the most special, significant and
well-loved places of worship in England", having "most of all" of the
characteristics of being large (over 1,000msq),
(generally grade I or II*), having "exceptional significance and/or
issues necessitating a conservation management plan" and having a local
role beyond that of an average parish church. As of December 2021 there are 312 such churches in the database. These churches are eligible to join the Major Churches Network.
Festival Church: a church not used for weekly services but used for occasional services and other events. These churches are eligible to join the Association of Festival Churches. As of December 2021 there are 19 such churches in the database.
CCT Church: a church under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. As of December 2021 there are 345 such churches in the database.
Friendless Church: as of December 2021 there are 24 such churches in the database; the Friends of Friendless Churches cares for 60 churches across England and Wales.