England Church History: Difference between revisions

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Individual church units, called parishes, were also used as civil parishes to help the government control poor relief, military conscription, some law enforcement, and taxation.<ref>John Southerden Burn, ''Registrum Ecclesiae Parochialis. The History of the Parish Registers of England, Also of the Registers of Scotland, Ireland, the East and West Indies, the Dissenters, and the Episcopal Chapters in and about London.'' 2nd ed. London: John Russell Smith, 1842. Digital version at [http://books.google.com/books?id=rpI9AAAAcAAJ Google Books].</ref> Parishes were grouped together in [[Rural Deanery (England)|rural deaneries]] which in turn were part of a [[Diocese (England)|diocese]].  

From the early Middle Ages onwards England has been predominantly Christian. Until the Reformation England was Catholic, but in 1534 the Church in England (the Anglican Church) was made independent and eventually adopted a moderate Protestant theology. The Church of England was the state church with the Monarch as it's Supreme Governor and thus became the majority religion. Catholics were severely persecuted. Other religions, collectively referred to as "Non-conformists" were also not tolerated. Not until 1829 did official persecution against Christian groups end.   

The Church of England was created in 1534 by Henry VIII, in the midst of the Protestant Reformation, but with a primary motivation being to be able to annul his marriage to his first wife Catherine of Aragon. The advisers of his son Edward VI (1547-1553) introduced changes that made the Church Calvinist, but this was reversed by Henry's Catholic daughter Mary who reigned 1553-1558. Her sister and successor Elizabeth I recreated a separate Church of England, but with moderate Protestant theology and doctrines, set out in the 1563 Thirty Nine Articles that sought a middle path between Catholicism and Protestantism. During the Interregnum period following the defeat of Charles I in the English Civil War, the Anglican church was made into a Presbyterian church and non-attendance at Anglican church services was no longer a crime. This was reversed following the restoration of the Monarchy in 1660.   

The Anglican church continues to be the state church, and with other religions being persecuted until the early 19th century, became the majority religion. In 1851, when attendance at church services were recorded alongside the census, Anglicans had the most worshipers, with 30% of the population.   

Catholics, the only legal religion until 1534, suffered severe persecution over the next three centuries. Despite this, they survived in low numbers, especially in the north of England. In 1829 all persecution against Catholics ended. In 1851 about 2% of the population were Catholic churchgoers. Between the mid nineteenth century and mid twentieth century the number of Catholics increased due to Irish immigration and conversions from Anglicanism.   

Traditionally, any Protestant religion in England that is not Anglican is referred to as ''non-conformist''. These include Society of Friends (Quakers), Congregationalists, Baptists and Methodists. Protestant dissent against Anglicanism began in the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), and these dissenters sought a more "pure" Protestantism, thus the name "Puritan". Puritans were strongly linked to the side of Parliament in the English Civil War. Following the restoration of the Monarchy, the 1662 Act of Uniformity clarified Anglican doctrine and persecuted those who did not adhere to it. Persecution was relaxed in 1689. Methodism was started later, by John Wesley (1703-1791). By 1851, there were 4.5 million non-Conformist churchgoers, compared to 5.2 million Anglicans.   

'''1568: '''Some Puritans ordained their own ministers and tried unsuccessfully to separate from the Church of England. The Puritan movement split in two: the Presbyterians and the Separatists.   

'''1831:''' First meeting in England of a conservative, Evangelical Christian movement that had begun in Dublin around 1827, held in Plymouth, Devon. The movement becomes known as the Plymouth Brethren.   

'''1865:''' The Salvation Army founded by one-time Methodist minister William Booth and his wife Catherine as the East London Christian Mission.   

'''1972:''' About three quarters of English Congregational churches merged with the ''Presbyterian Church of England'' to form the ''United Reformed Church'' (URC). However, about 600 Congregational churches have continued in their historic independent tradition.  

The following major events affected church history and the records. [[England History]] mentions other specific events.  

ENGLAND, [COUNTY] - CHURCH HISTORY  

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{{Place|England}}