4 - Citizens and Protestants: The Denominations and Revision

Summary

In June 1928, as parliament prepared to debate the second revision measure, J. A. Sharp, the former President of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference, wrote to The Times,

We cherish no spirit of antagonism towards the Anglican Church … but so long as it remains the national Church its Protestant character must be maintained, and we look to the House of Commons, as representative of the people, to save the Mother Church of their land from taking a step which, rightly or wrongly, we believe will imperil the Reformation settlement.

The previous year, the Cambrian News, the Aberystwyth-based newspaper, described revision as a ‘return to all the errors and horrors of Roman Catholicism’ and a ‘national concern’. As these examples intimate, Prayer Book revision was never perceived merely as a domestic altercation within the Church of England. The proposed liturgical changes and doctrinal implications, alongside the Church's established status and constitutional limitations, meant that the bishops’ proposals had ramifications beyond Anglicanism. Parliament, including substantial numbers of Nonconformist MPs and representatives of Scottish and Welsh constituencies, was faced with a decision that many understood to affect the religious interests of the whole country. This chapter will show that the British denominations made a significant contribution to the revision maelstrom. At every level – leadership and lay, national and local – there is evidence of Free Churchmen and members of Scottish and Welsh mainline denominations being actively involved in the Protestant campaign. The historiography of the Free Churches in the early twentieth century is limited in size and scope; thus, studies of the relationship between Church and chapel during the period are in short supply. The 1920s were a decade of ecumenical endeavour and conversation initiated by the Lambeth Appeal of 1920. Various accounts, most notably that by D. M. Thompson, assess the role of Free Church denominations in these discussions. The general historiographical dearth means the involvement of non-established Protestants in the revision controversy has been overlooked. Only Matthew Grimley, in his study of interwar theories of Church and State, has noted the interest of Free Church leaders in the matter, but his analysis addresses only attitudes towards disestablishment during the controversy.