A People's Church: A History of the Church of England

by The Revd Dr Jeremy Morris

Weaving social, political, and religious history together with church music and architecture, A People's Church is a clear-eyed look at Anglican history through the ages.

This history is as tumultuous as it is long. The transformative 1534-1660 period shaped not only the Church of England but the country itself, encompassing the Reformation, the return to Catholicism under Mary, and the Civil War. This was closely followed by the Restoration of the monarchy in 1688, the expulsion of the Dissenters, and the 1689 Bill of Rights. By the time of John Henry Newman and the Industrial Revolution, the church was fragile.

How, then, has it endured? And what of its future?

Genres: History, Religion, Christianity, Nonfiction, British Literature

480 pages, Hardcover

Published April 7, 2022

Reviews

[Zandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed reading this book, especially the way Morris can cleverly summarize, and present his interpretation of, so many of the Church's controversies. I did wonder if I enjoyed it because I know the Church of England 'from the inside' and am therefore familiar with much of the terminology. This book is very jargon-heavy (perhaps one reason why it is only 'a' people's church not 'the' people's church?)

I did come to wonder why, within the C of E, there have always been fierce arguments about insignificant issues - which are clearly not insignificant to a minority. Also, it strikes me as curious to have read a book about the history of a church which is itself more concerned with even earlier history. The Church, it seems, does not know how to be confident in the modern world, because a central premise of the Church is to perpetuate the past, tradition, the teachings of historical Biblical figures. Anglicans have the added challenge of trying to define how far they are Roman Catholic and how they might be authentic without being Roman Catholic. The C of E is on an intellectual and aesthetic quest that really can only appeal to an elite minority, I feel.

The Long Eighteenth Century interests me: was it a time of stability or sterility for the C of E? I think from Morris I gain the understanding that the church couldn't reform problems such as pluralism and non-residence because it was too intermeshed in the political and social hierarchy, with too many vested interests from Patrons, parishioners and incumbents themselves, with Bishops' power too constrained by the political and constitutional demands placed upon them. I'm interested in this because my reading elsewhere suggests that clergy at this time may have had little sense of real vocation, and were instead motivated by purely worldly considerations. So, it seems, to be a 'Reverend' was actually a license to be whatever you wanted - naturalist, inventor, writer, fox-hunter, estate manager and so on.

[Daniel Clemence · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable and original read, A People's Church offers a fantastic history of the Church of England. Starting from before the Reformation up until the present day, the book outlines the growth of the Anglican church. There are three sections to the book, each one reflecting which part of society the church was controlled most by, whether by the king, ruling classes or people.

The Anglican church started as it is well known from the Catholic church because Henry VIII wanted a divorce but the theology of the Anglican church developed over time and the middle way church that the Anglican church is now famous for had not yet developed. James I of England tried to pursue a moderate position but his son Charles I ended up leading the English church into a civil war.

What this book is really good at is identifying key parts of history which have impacted the Anglican church. I found the 19th century developments and church to be the most interesting. The development of Liberalism under F.D Maurice and the sociological construction of Anglicanism is interesting. I found that Liberalism wasn't really that liberal at all until at least the 20th century, though there were toning down of hell which seemed to be reflected throughout Christian theology over the last couple of decades.

The social construction of Anglicanism is also very interesting. Anglicanism did have a working class contingent but it was a minority part of Anglicanism. Furthermore, there was a tendency of upper mobile middle class people switching from non-conformist denominations to Anglicanism. This I found was intriguing because Margaret Thatcher did exactly that.

An overall interesting history of the Anglican church.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Obviously as a single volume covering a historic perspective of over 500 years, it does not delve into great depth, but there are many references to more specific works in the very broad and complete bibliography and chapter notes. The fact that the author continues to refer back to the local impacts of changes within the Church is refreshing and not at all universal in such histories. A great summation for the development of the religion in England from Catholic through to reformation, puritan, restoration and dissent, the Oxford movement with High and Low Church right up to the present day.

[Mike Jorgensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started off pretty slow and dry, I was not a fan. Plus, it was assigned to me (as opposed to something I picked up out of interest.) But Morris won me over. He is a diligent historian who provides lots of scholarly and primary source interlocutors. He moves roughly chronologically and there are several brilliant moves from a storytelling perspective. When the church is tied to the state, the history is told through the lens of the monarchy, but later history finds other markers for historical significance.

It's probably not one that I'm ever going to re-read, but if I have to brush up on Episcopal history, this is my choice.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compelling book, that feels like a flying overview of the history of the Church of England, like a theme park ride that takes you through the ages, slowing down long enough at the juicy parts that you can really see how the church affected people's lives around it, and how they themselves impacted the church. The anglican tradition becomes a living character before your eyes, and you become personally invested in it, if only for the length of the ride.

[James Cary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly the author knows his stuff, but overall, it didn’t feel his heart was in it. He was telling me things about the history of the Church of England, but it was weak on any king of coherent narrative or central thesis. The idea it’s the People’s Church is really not explored at all. I guess I’m fairly invested in the Church of England and know a fair bit of the history, but I was hoping for more.

[Rob Mead · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s informative, but very dry and sometimes repetitive.
The warnings of decline should be heeded even by us non-believers