Relations between the Church of England Council on Foreign Relations and the Foreign Office in the Early Cold War

Abstract

The paper looks at church-state relations in Britain during the Early Cold War through the relationship between the Foreign Office and the Church of England Council on Foreign Relations. It examines the conviction of government and religious elites that secular and spiritual power were complementary and of benefit to the national interest. Albeit marked by mutual empathy, subtle and discreet means, informal understandings and shared outlooks, cooperation between the two could prove problematic. The paper explores the Cold War tensions that derived from the influence of America's «spiritual-industrial-complex» on its Transatlantic ally when it conflicted with the ecumenical influences on the Church of England to reach out to the Russian Orthodox Church.