Authorised Report of the Church Congress


Book Description

Reprint of the original, first published in 1877.



















The Churches and the Working Classes


Book Description

Contrary to our perception of the centrality of the churches in English life in the nineteenth century, the disappointing results of the 1851 Religious Census led religious leaders to seek a variety of ways to increase religious allegiance as the century progressed. The apparent apathy and lack of interest in formal religion on the part of the working classes was particularly galling, and the various denominations tried hard to attract them through evangelical missions as well as social and charitable ventures which sometimes competed with religious concerns, to the latter’s detriment. This book traces the motivations, concerns and efforts of the churches, particularly in the period between 1870 and 1920, and the ambivalent responses of ordinary people. The Education Act of 1870 led to the churches losing their hold on the education of the young, a consequence foreseen by many church leaders, but unable to be prevented. By 1920 it was apparent that the churches’ optimism regarding an increased role with a war-weary population would not be fulfilled. The focus is on the city of Leeds, representative of the industrialised urban areas with burgeoning populations which proved to be such a challenge to the churches, at the same time stimulating them to ever-greater efforts.




Women and the Anglican Church Congress 1861-1938


Book Description

This book covers new ground in its focus on the Anglican Church congresses 1861-1938 as a public space in which the views of notable women were widely disseminated. It celebrates the contribution made by women to public life and discourse on womanhood as platform speakers, and commemorates the presence of the large numbers of women who joined congresses as audience members. Original research draws on extensive primary sources from official records, diaries and the press to capture women's views and voices and to evoke congress as a communicative social space and a window into topical affairs. Women and the Anglican Church Congress 1861-1938 examines the roles of women in the Church and reflects on how women with a sense of vocation negotiated contemporary attitudes to their positions and spirituality. The book also explores how women's secular aspirations towards citizenship in the context of poverty, work, temperance, eugenics, class and suffrage played out at congress.