Free Church of England
| Free Church of England | |
 |
|
| Classification | Protestant |
|---|---|
| Orientation | Anglican |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Origin | 1844 |
| Separated from | Church of England |
| Congregations | 18 |
| Members | 1,155 comunicants |
| Official website | http://www.fcofe.org.uk/ |
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The Free Church of England (FCE) is an episcopal Christian denomination based in England. The Church was founded when a number of congregations separated from the established Church of England in the middle of the 19th century.[1]
The doctrinal basis of the FCE, together with its episcopal structures, organisation, worship, ministry and ethos are recognisably ‘Anglican’ although it is not a member of the Anglican Communion. Worship style follows that of the Book of Common Prayer or conservative modern-language forms that belong to the Anglican tradition.
The Church of England acknowledges the FCE as a Church with valid Orders[2] and its Canons permit a range of shared liturgical and ministerial activities.
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History [edit]
The Free Church of England was founded principally by Evangelical or Low Church clergy and congregations in response what were perceived as attempts (inspired by the Oxford Movement) to re-introduce Roman Catholic dogmas and practices into the Established Church. The first congregations were formed in 1844.
In the early years ministers were often provided by the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion which had its origins in the 18th century Evangelical Revival and by the middle of the 19th century still retained many Anglican features such as the use of the surplice and Book of Common Prayer.[3] In 1863 the annual conference of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion created a constitution for the new congregations under the title The Free Church of England (though the name had been in use since the 1840s).
The constitution made provision for the creation of dioceses, each to be under the oversight of a bishop. The first bishop was Benjamin Price, who initially had oversight of all the new congregations. In 1874 the FCE made contact with the newly organised Reformed Episcopal Church in North America.[4] The founding bishop of the REC, George David Cummins, had been strongly influenced by William Augustus Muhlenberg, who advocated 'Evangelical Catholicism' as a means of combining the best of both the Evangelical and Catholic traditions. In 1876 an REC bishop from Canada, Edward Cridge, came to the United Kingdom and consecrated Benjamin Price and John Sugden in the historic succession. The following year a branch of the REC was founded in the UK.
The two churches lived in parallel until 1927, when the Free Church of England united with the UK branch of the Reformed Episcopal Church. The full name of the united Church since 1927 is: The Free Church of England, otherwise called the Reformed Episcopal Church in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.[5]
Organisation [edit]
Some of the parishes have youth activities of various kinds. Each congregation elects churchwardens and delegates who, together with the clergy, constitute the diocesan synod and annual Convocation.
The Free Church of England is a conventional Anglican Church body, worshipping in the Low Church tradition and holding to the principles of the Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty-Nine Articles. Presbyters and deacons wear surplice, scarf and hood; bishops wear rochet and chimere.
The provision of contemporary language liturgies has been approved by Convocation and a process of drafting and authorisation has begun. The Church has continued to ordain bishops in the apostolic succession, with Moravian, Church of England and Indian Orthodox bishops taking part on occasion.[6]
The presiding bishop is chosen annually by Convocation and takes the title Bishop Primus. Only baptized males are ordained to Holy Orders: bishop, presbyter and deacon, or admitted as lay readers. In 2010, there were 29 ordained ministers and 1,155 communicant members of the FCE in England[7]
The Central Board of Trustees for the denomination, The Free Church of England Central Trust, operates as a registered UK charity (No. 271151) and is a company limited by guarantee with no share capital. It holds as loans funds deposited by the churches for investment and lends money and makes grants to further the objects and work of the FCE.
Dioceses [edit]
The united church enjoyed modest growth in the first part of the 20th century, having at one point 90 congregations, but after the Second World War, like most other denominations in the UK, suffered a decline in numbers. Currently, the Free Church of England has two dioceses in England (designated North and South) and a church in Russia – The Church of Christ the Saviour, St. Petersburg. There are currently seventeen churches in England which are located as follows,
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- Northern Diocese
- St George's Church, Mill Hill, Blackburn, Lancashire
- The John Knowles Memorial Church, Hoyland, South Yorkshire
- Emmanuel Church, Morecambe, Lancashire
- Holy Trinity Church, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire
- St David's Church, Preston, Lancashire
- St John's Church, Tottington, Greater Manchester
- Christ Church, Liscard, Wallasey, Merseyside
- Southern Diocese
- St Jude's Church, Balham, London
- St Andrew's Church, Willenhall, Bentley, West Midlands
- Emmanuel Church, Saltley, Birmingham
- Christ Church, Broadstairs, Kent
- Christ Church, Exeter, Devon
- Christ Church, Exmouth, Devon
- Christ Church, Harlesden, London
- St Jude's Church, Walsall, West Midlands
- Christ Church, Willesborough, Ashford, Kent
- Northern Diocese
There is also a Church plant at Shoreham-by-Sea.
Relationships [edit]
The FCE is in communion with the Reformed Episcopal Church, which itself is now a member of the Anglican Church in North America. Within the UK the FCE is a member of the Free Churches Group,[8] Churches Together in England and the Evangelical Alliance. From 1992 to 1997 the FCE was in official dialogue with the Church of England, which the 1998 Lambeth Conference saw as a sign of hope.[9] It is a Designated Church under the Church of England's Ecumenical Relations Measure 1988.[10] FCE bishops have attended the enthronements of George Carey, Rowan Williams and Justin Welby as Archbishops of Canterbury.
In 2003 two bishops and a few clergy left the FCE, because of their objection to the FCE's increasing openness to engagement with other denominations, and came together as a small group of congregations calling themselves the Evangelical Connexion of the Free Church of England. [11] Two of the congregations subsequently returned to the FCE.
Recognition of Orders [edit]
In January 2013 it was announced that The Church of England had recognised the orders of the Free Church of England. This move followed approximately three years of contact between the bishops of the Free Church of England, the Council for Christian Unity and the Faith and Order Commission. The recognition was not voted on by the General Synod but was endorsed by the standing committee of the House of Bishops. Bishop John McLean, Primus of the Free Church of England, said: “We are grateful to the archbishops for this recognition of our common episcopal heritage. I pray that it will not be an end in itself, but will lead to new opportunities for proclaiming the Gospel.” The Bishop of Guildford the Right Rev Christopher Hill, chair of the Church of England’s Council for Christian Unity, said: “I hope there will be good relations between us and especially in those places where there is a Free Church of England congregation.”[12]
Recognition of the Orders of the Free Church of England under the Overseas and Other Clergy (Ministry and Ordination) Measure 1967, means that FCE clergy can be licensed to minister in the Church of England in the same way as clergy from overseas Provinces of the Anglican Communion. The Measure also permits FCE bishops to ordain and perform other episcopal functions at the request of the bishop of a diocese in the Provinces of Canterbury and York, subject to the consent of the relevant Archbishop.[13]
The FCE is currently considering how best to respond to the current realignments within the Anglican Communion.
References [edit]
- ^ Richard D. Fenwick, The Free Church of England otherwise called the Reformed Episcopal Church c.1845 to c.1927, PhD thesis, University of Wales, 1995.
- ^ http://www.churchofengland.org/ma-centre/news/2013/01/free-church-of-england-orders-recognised.aspx
- ^ John Fenwick, The Free Church of England: Introduction to an Anglican Tradition, London, Continuum, 2004, pp. 9-33.
- ^ Allen C. Guelzo, For the Union of Evangelical Christendom: The Irony of the Reformed Episcopalians, Pennsylvania, State University Press, 1994, pp. 224-227.
- ^ http://www.fcofe.org.uk/about_the_free_church_of_england.htm
- ^ John Fenwick, The Forgotten Bishops: The Malabar Independent Syrian Church and its Place in the Story of the St Thomas Christians of South India, Piscataway, NJ, Gorgias Press, 2009, p.582; The Glastonbury Review, vol. XXII, no. 114, (November 2006), p. 299; Free Church of England Year Book, 2006-2007.
- ^ Whitaker's Almanack, A & C Black (Publishers) Ltd, London, 2010.
- ^ http://www.churches-together.net/Articles/179473/Churches_Together_in/Free_Churches/FCG_Member_Denominations.aspx
- ^ Mark Dyer et al. (eds.), The Official Report of the Lambeth Conference 1998, Harrisburg, PA, Morehouse Publishing, 1999, p.228.
- ^ http://www.churchofengland.org/about-us/structure/churchlawlegis/canons/supplementary-material.aspx
- ^ Free Church of England Year Book, 2009-2010.
- ^ Gledhill, Ruth (January 28 2013). "Church of England recognises ‘free’ order that is against women bishops". The Times (London).
- ^ http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukcm/1967/3/section/4.
