Modern Church

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Modern Church is a charitable society [1] promoting liberal Christian theology. It defends liberal positions on a wide range of issues including gender, sexuality, interfaith relations, religion and science, and biblical scholarship. In church affairs it supports the role of laity and women ministers. Members receive the journal Modern Believing and the newsletter Signs of the Times. A substantial account of its theology is Paul Badham’s The Contemporary Challenge of Modernist Theology. [2] From 2011-2013 it published a series of short books introducing some of its themes. It has a large website. There is a regular annual conference. The theological principles behind its liberalism are that

Contents

Understood like this, theological liberalism is opposed to dogmatism. [3] Its style is open and enquiring, willing to dialogue with other traditions and accept new insights from unexpected sources. It values critical scholarship of the Bible and Christian history. It expects to contribute to, and learn from, contemporary society in ways that are public, relevant and respectful. [4]

History

The society was founded in 1898 as the Churchmen's Union for the Advancement of Liberal Religious Thought as a society to defend the tolerant 'middle ground' within the Church of England. [5] [6] At the time both Evangelicalism and Anglo-Catholicism were becoming increasingly dogmatic in reaction against secular rationalism, which seemed a threat to religious belief. After a few changes of name, the society was known as The Modern Churchmen’s Union from 1928 to 1986. [7] The name was then changed to The Modern Churchpeople’s Union and changed again in 2010 to Modern Church. [5]

From the outset it defended belief in evolution and critical scholarship of the Bible. It promoted the ordination of women from the 1920s. During the twentieth century it was among the first voices within the Church to campaign for contraception, remarriage after divorce, the abolition of capital punishment, the decriminalisation of homosexuality and the consecration of women bishops. As part of its work in support of gay and lesbian clergy it was heavily involved in resisting the proposed Anglican Covenant. [8]

Its journal was founded in 1911. At first known as The Modern Churchman, [9] it is now Modern Believing and is published by Liverpool University Press.

Annual conferences began in 1914 and have continued with the exception of the war years. [10] Over the years many distinguished theologians have addressed them. Its most controversial conference was 'Christ and the Creeds' in 1921. It generated so much debate that the Church of England set up a Doctrine Commission to investigate it. The Commission produced a report in 1938 exonerating the views expressed. [11]

The dominant figure in the early years was Henry Major. Major not only ran the organisation but also set up a theological college for it in Ripon. [12] The college moved to Oxford as Ripon Hall, and in 1975 merged with Cuddesdon as Ripon College Cuddesdon. [5]

The most detailed history of the organisation is Alan Stephenson's The Rise and Decline of English Modernism. [13] It was written in the early 1980s at a time when the society was in decline and Stephenson expected it to die out, but since then it has revived.

Apart from Henry Major, leading theologians in the past are Hastings Rashdall, W. R. Inge (known as 'Dean Inge'), Charles Raven, Norman Pittenger, William Frend [14] and Anthony Dyson. Theologians among its current members include Linda Woodhead, Martyn Percy, Paul Badham, Elaine Graham, John Barton, Alan Race and Adrian Thatcher.

Leadership

In July 2017, Modern Church announced that its next General Secretary would be Jonathan Draper. [15] He took up the part-time post on 1 September 2017.

List of presidents: [16]

List of secretaries: [16]

Related Research Articles

Paul Badham is professor emeritus of theology and religious studies at the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David. Educated at Reading School, Badham studied theology, religious studies and the philosophy of religion at Oxford and Cambridge universities, and received his PhD from the University of Birmingham. He trained for the Anglican Ministry at Westcott House and worked as a curate in Birmingham for five years before his appointment at Lampeter in 1973. He became a professor in 1991 and has served as head of department, head of school and dean of the Faculty of Theology. He was director of the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre from 2002 to 2010.

John Leonard Wilson was an Anglican bishop. He was Bishop of Singapore from 1941 to 1949 during the time of Japanese occupation and subsequently Dean of Manchester and Bishop of Birmingham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hulsean Lectures</span>

The Hulsean Lectures were established from an endowment made by John Hulse to the University of Cambridge in 1790. At present, they consist of a series of four to eight lectures given by a university graduate on some branch of Christian theology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ripon College Cuddesdon</span> Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon

Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village 5.5 miles (8.9 km) outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay ministry, through a wide range of flexible full-time and part-time programmes.

Stephen George Platten, is a retired Anglican prelate, the last to serve as diocesan Bishop of Wakefield in the Church of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westcott House, Cambridge</span>

Westcott House is an Anglican theological college based on Jesus Lane in the centre of the university city of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Its main activity is training people for ordained ministry in the Church of England and other Anglican churches. Westcott House is a founding member of the Cambridge Theological Federation. The college is considered by many to be Liberal Catholic in its tradition, but it accepts ordinands from a range of traditions in the Church of England.

Michael Francis Perham was a British Anglican bishop. From 2004 to 2014, he served as the Bishop of Gloucester in the Church of England.

Paul Frederick Bradshaw, FRHistS is a British Anglican priest, theologian, historian of liturgy, and academic. In addition to parish ministry, he taught at Chichester Theological College and Ripon College Cuddesdon. From 1985 to 2013, he was Professor of Liturgy at the University of Notre Dame in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martyn Percy</span> British academic and theologian (born 1962)

Martyn William Percy is a British academic, educator, social scientist and theologian. Ordained as a priest in the Church of England, in 2022 he announced that he was leaving the Church of England, though remains Episcopalian-Anglican. He had been Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, from 2014 to 2022 and principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxford, from 2004 to 2014.

John Henry Garton was a British Anglican bishop and theologian. He was the Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon from 1986 to 1996, and the suffragan Bishop of Plymouth in the Church of England from 1996 to 2005.

The Lincoln Theological Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, simply known as the Lincoln Theological Institute, is a research centre at the University of Manchester, UK. Established in 1997, its research focuses on theology, faith and society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Draper</span> Anglican priest (born 1952)

Jonathan Lee Draper is an American Anglican priest, theologian, and academic. Since 2017, he has been the general secretary of Modern Church. From 2012 to 2017, he was the dean of Exeter, at Exeter Cathedral in the Church of England Diocese of Exeter.

Henry Dewsbury Alves "Hal" Major, was a New Zealand Anglican clergyman and theologian. He was Principal of Ripon Hall, Oxford from 1919 to 1948: first, when it was Ripon Clergy College in Ripon, Yorkshire (1919), and then as Ripon Hall in Oxford. A prominent liberal Christian, he was active in the Modern Churchmen's Union, and was founder and editor of its Modern Churchman journal.

The Oxford Centre for Ecclesiology and Practical Theology (OxCEPT) is a research centre based at Ripon College Cuddesdon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen-Ann Hartley</span> British Anglican bishop and academic (born 1973)

Helen-Ann Macleod Hartley is a British Anglican bishop, Lord Spiritual, and academic. Since 2023, she has served as Bishop of Newcastle in the Church of England. She previously served as Bishop of Waikato in New Zealand from 2014 to 2017, and area Bishop of Ripon in the Diocese of Leeds from 2018 to 2023. She was the first woman to have trained as a priest in the Church of England to join the episcopate, and the third woman to become a bishop of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.

The Society for the Study of Theology (SST) is the leading British organization for theologians in academy, church, and society, which held its first conference in 1952.

Paula Gooder is a British theologian and Anglican lay reader, who specialises in the New Testament. She is Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral. She has previously taught at two theological colleges, Ripon College Cuddesdon and The Queen's Foundation, served as Theologian in Residence for the Bible Society (2013–2017), and as Director of Mission, Learning and Development in the Diocese of Birmingham (2017–2018). She is a freelance writer and speaker.

Mark David Chapman is a British Anglican priest, theologian, historian, and academic. He has been Vice-Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon since 2002, and Full Professor of the History of Modern Theology at the University of Oxford since 2015.

James Leslie Houlden was a British Anglican priest and academic. He served as Principal of Cuddesdon Theological College from 1970 to 1975, and then, after its amalgamation with Ripon Hall, Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon from 1975 to 1977. He then joined the staff of King's College, London, rising to become Professor of Theology between 1987 and 1994.

Charlotte Mary Methuen, is a British Anglican priest, historian, and academic. Since 2017, she has been Professor of Church History at the University of Glasgow. As an academic she specialises in the Reformation in Germany, 20th-century ecumenism, and women's ministry. She was previously a lecturer at Ruhr University Bochum, the University of Hamburg, the University of Oxford and Ripon College Cuddesdon. She has served as a priest in the Church of England, Scottish Episcopal Church, and the Old Catholic Church in Germany.

References

  1. ↑ "Charity overview" . Retrieved 2017-05-15.
  2. ↑ Badham, Paul (1998). The Contemporary Challenge of Modernist Theology. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN   978-0-70831-501-9.
  3. ↑ "About Modern Church".
  4. ↑ "Modern Church, An Introduction to Liberal Theology".
  5. 1 2 3 "Modern Church - Our History".
  6. ↑ "Our journal: The birth of the Churchmen's Union: Object statements past & present". Modern Church. October 2017. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  7. ↑ Stephenson, Alan M G (1984). The Rise and Decline of English Modernism: The Hulsean Lectures 1979-80. London: SPCK.
  8. ↑ "Modern Church - Anglican Covenant Archive".
  9. ↑ Modern Church history - Our journal
  10. ↑ Modern Church - past conferences
  11. ↑ Stephenson, Alan MG (1984). The Rise and Decline of English Modernism: The Hulsean Lectures 1979-80. London: SPCK.
  12. ↑ Pearson, Clive R. (1996). "Henry Dewsbury Alves Major". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture and Heritage . Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  13. ↑ Stephenson, Alan MG (1984). The Rise and Decline of English Modernism: The Hulsean Lectures 1979-80. London: SPCK.
  14. ↑ Tebbutt, Simon (October 2005). "Obituary: The Revd Professor W H C Frend". Signs of the Times No. 19. Modern Church. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  15. ↑ Bohan, Kieran. "Meet our new General Secretary - Modern Church". modernchurch.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2017-10-03. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  16. 1 2 Bohan, Kieran. "Presidents & Secretaries". Modern Church. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
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