Introduction: Liturgical Revision and National Religion

Summary

In December 1927, the House of Commons met to debate and vote on a revised Prayer Book that had received the spiritual seal of approval of the voting bodies of the national Church. The reports of various newspaper commentators expressed the sense of excitement and intensity of interest surrounding the issues at stake. There was an unprecedented demand for tickets for the viewing galleries, while below, according to one newspaper, members had mustered ‘in such numbers as suggested full realisation of a crucial event’. During the speeches, the House was reportedly more chaotic and boisterous than during a heated political debate on economic matters or foreign policy. Spiritual zeal, genuine interest in ecclesiastical matters and concern for the wellbeing and religious identity of the nation were all evident. The idea of national Protestantism was a central feature of the debate. A key oration was delivered by Scottish Labour MP Rosslyn Mitchell, who warned ‘In one generation, with that deposited book, you will swing over all the children of England from the Protestant Reformed Faith to the Roman Catholic Faith.’ As the tellers finally entered close to midnight, journalists reported that their announcement was heralded with prolonged cheers from animated MPs across both sides of the House – parliament had rejected the bishops’ proposals by 240 to 207 votes. As the result was declared, members jumped to their feet cheering, ‘handkerchiefs, hats and order papers were waved boisterously in the air’ and two minutes passed before the Speaker was able to restore order. The atmosphere, according to the parliamentary correspondent of the Daily Express, was more sensational than any the House had known since the Great War. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall Davidson, was said to have been inconsolable, head in hands, and, on making the short journey over the Thames back to Lambeth Palace, he knew the spiritual authority of the Church had been undermined by the Protestant convictions of parliament. In the reckoning of W. H. Frere, Bishop of Truro, ‘At something like midnight on Thursday, 15 December, the whole ecclesiastical scene was changed like the pattern of a kaleidoscope.’