Church Of England Research Articles

A Shorter Version of the Revised Francis Psychological Type and Emotional Temperament Scales (FPTETS-R)

Abstract: The Francis Psychological Type and Emotional Temperament Scales (FPTETS) operationalize the psychological-type model of personality alongside emotional temperament. The scales have been widely used in research as continuous variables that explain a wide range of religious beliefs and attitudes. The full instrument consists of five 10-item scales so a shorter version would be useful in longer surveys where completion time needs to be minimized. This study uses data from 700 Church of England clergy who completed the revised version of the FPTETS to reduce the 10-item scales to 6-item scales. Ant colony optimization was found to be a better way of selecting the final items than reliability optimization alone because it balanced individual scale reliabilities with maintaining the factor structure of the overall instrument. The selected scales were validated using data from 1,194 lay people from the Church of England, and two samples of 884 clergy and 2,765 lay people from the Episcopal Church (USA). The short scales are commended for use where the need is for continuous scale scores rather than producing psychological typologies.

England's second Reformation. The battle for the Church of England, 1625–1662. By Anthony Milton. (Studies in Early Modern British History.) Pp. xiv + 528. Cambridge–New York: Cambridge University Press, 2021. £34.99. 978 1 107 19645 2

England's second Reformation. The battle for the Church of England, 1625–1662. By Anthony Milton. (Studies in Early Modern British History.) Pp. xiv + 528. Cambridge–New York: Cambridge University Press, 2021. £34.99. 978 1 107 19645 2

Engaging with the science of cathedral studies: an invitation to the Catholic Church in England and Wales

ABSTRACT The developing science of cathedral studies has focused mainly on Anglican cathedrals. The present study argues for drawing Catholic cathedrals into this field. Employing data gathered from the websites of the 22 Catholic cathedrals in England and Wales, alongside data gathered from the diocesan reports submitted to the Charity Commission, this study demonstrates the distinctiveness of the ministry and mission of Catholic cathedrals compared with Anglican cathedrals.

Academic Collaboration in the Early Enlightenment: Daniel Waterland (1683–1740) and his Cambridge Tyros

Abstract While early modern collaborative practices have long been associated with the natural sciences, humanistic scholarship has mostly been depicted, ever since Mark Pattison’s classic biography of Isaac Casaubon, as a lonely and even self-destructive affair. This article reconstructs a moment in English intellectual history when textual scholars did collaborate in a semi-professional manner. To this end, it examines the relationship between Daniel Waterland, Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, and three ambitious young scholars who assumed roles within his enterprise: Edmund Law, Thomas Johnson and John Chapman. By showing how an unofficial research team was assembled over several years and directed to perform separate but related tasks with the stated goal of defending the Church of England, the article highlights the dynamics at work within a collective, subtly top-down model of scholarly interaction. Though a passing reference has been made in the historiography to ‘Waterland & Company’, this article is the first to delve into the nature and scope of this network and its sometimes contradictory objectives.

Deeply Christian and serving the common good? A survey of Anglican cathedral provision for schools

ABSTRACT The Church of England’s vision for education is generous and seeks to allow the riches of Christian life to overflow throughout schools. The vision is captured by the strapline ‘Deeply Christian, serving the common good’. The present study assesses the contribution made to service this vision by the 43 Anglican cathedrals within England and the Isle of Man. Drawing on a careful analysis of information presented by the websites of these cathedrals, the study concluded that all 43 Anglican cathedrals dedicated considerable space on their websites to a regular programme of teaching and learning provision across the age range from early years foundation stage to sixth-form, relevant to a range of curriculum areas, and giving attention to pupils’ personal development and well-being.

Contrasting Approaches to Managing the Debate on Same-Sex Blessing and Same-Sex Marriage in New Zealand and Australia: Applying Insights from Jungian Psychological Type Theory

Abstract In October 2022 the Church of England commissioned an examination of the impact of the debate on same-sex blessing and same-sex marriage within other Anglican Churches. The examination involved a literature search, an original survey among key informers and a general internet search. This paper draws on the general internet search to contrast the impacts in New Zealand and Australia. Drawing on Jungian psychological type theory, this analysis employs the contrasting decision-making functions of feeling (concerned with subjective interpersonal values) and thinking (concerned with objective logical analysis). The data suggest that the feeling approach dominant in New Zealand, which prioritized offering space and time for those of differing opinions to meet together, reported more positive outcomes than the thinking approach dominant in Australia, which gave greater priority to adversarial debate.

Reforming the Established Church: History and Proposals

AbstractWhile the term ‘establishment’ is ambiguous, it generally refers to a formal relationship between a church and the state in which it operates. This can range from parliamentary representation (as with the Church of England) to mere observance by the monarch (as at the Church of Scotland's annual General Assembly). Since the 1960s there have been proposals regarding Crown appointments and the number and status of the Lords Spiritual. There exists no major push for full disestablishment of the Church of England, but a bill is currently before Parliament.

‘He taught me to hate myself’: the pastoral care of gay Christians in Anglican churches

ABSTRACT This paper examines the pastoral approach of church leaders towards gay and lesbian Christians in two contrasting Anglican church settings: non-affirming and affirming of gay identity. This is timely, given the vexed history surrounding the ‘gay issue’ within the Church of England and the current deliberations regarding ‘gay blessings’. The results uncovered a troubling ignorance in non-affirming settings of the well-researched vulnerability of gay Christians related to their sexual identity. Interviews with church leaders in affirming settings revealed a considerable burden of suffering in gay Christians seeking sanctuary in their churches because of traumatic experiences in non-affirming churches.

Praised and Maligned: Receptions of Erasmus’ Paraphrases on the New Testament

Abstract Erasmus was not only the first to have the Greek text of the New Testament printed together with his Latin translation, but he also paraphrased the books of the New Testament—with the exception of the Apocalypse. These Paraphrases were highly successful as evidenced by their many editions and translations. Even an English translation was to be found in every parish in the Church of England. There was also opposition. Theologians from Spain and France scrutinized them for Lutheran ideas, and, of course, found them. However, the interest in the paraphrases was not diminished by this criticism and they had an intense reception in the sixteenth century and a long-lasting one stretching after Erasmus’ death. Parts were included in commentaries on the New Testament, sometimes with reference to the original author, more often without his name.

Reimagining ecclesia domestica following a time of pandemic: the John Hull Memorial Lecture, 2023

ABSTRACT The Second Vatican Council helpfully reaffirmed the partnership among three primary agencies in the Christian education and the Christian formation of the young: school, church, and home. The primacy among these three agencies may emerge differently in different social contexts. The argument of the present paper is two-fold. First, it is argued that John Hull was the key influence during the 1970s in trying to shift the primary focus for the Church of England from the school to the local congregation. Second, it is argued that post-pandemic, the primary focus now needs shifting from the local congregation to the home, to the ecclesia domestica.

Excommunication in Postrevolutionary England, 1689–1714

Abstract This article asks why many divines pushed for reform of the Church of England's use of excommunication after the Glorious Revolution of 1688. In response, it argues that, worried by what they perceived as widespread moral decline and the threat posed by the floodgates of Protestant dissent opened up by the Toleration Act of 1689, clergy became concerned that sentences such as excommunication were ineffective and the church would soon cease to be the chief arbiter of certain offenses. In contrast to existing historiography, this article suggests that the urge for reform was not confined to any particular section of the church. Instead, the reform of excommunication was a shared cause, although there was sharp disagreement about how to pursue it. However, despite enthusiasm for change, efforts for reform floundered because of partisan conflict and the legacy of the Tudor Reformation that continued to shape religious life in England well into the later Stuart period. Examining the debate about excommunication allows us to revise of our understandings of religion and politics in the last decades of the Stuart dynasty and further develop important concepts such as the long Reformation.

Putting the Catholics back in: the ‘rise of Arminianism’ reconsidered

Abstract This article places the ‘rise of Arminianism’ in the context of changing state policies towards English Catholics at the European dynastic conjuncture of the early 1620s. Through an examination of theological conferences held across 1622–3, it is suggested that both Arminianism and the controversy it engendered were competitive responses from within the Church of England to counter a reversionary Catholic interest. These conferences provided the immediate context for Richard Montague’s tracts of 1624–5, the response to which is considered in terms of conflicting conceptualizations of the character of the Church of England and its relationship to the Church of Rome.

Book Review: Before and Beyond the ‘Big Society’: John Milbank and the Church of England’s Approach to Welfare by Joseph Forde

Book Review: <i>Before and Beyond the ‘Big Society’: John Milbank and the Church of England’s Approach to Welfare</i> by Joseph Forde

The Role of Translation in Enacting Multiscalar Climate Action: Insights from European Christian Faith-Based Actors

Abstract The complex nature of climate change requires action at different scales and in different ways, but questions remain around how to produce climate action that is both multiscalar and joined up. Here we explore this question by adopting a relational approach to studying climate action by faith-based actors, who increasingly play an active role campaigning on climate action. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork with representatives of Christian churches in Sweden, Belgium, Scotland, and England, we identify two interrelated processes that explain how climate action “travels”: first, through horizontal circulation (between faith-based and non-faith-based spheres), and second, through vertical circulation (across individual, local, national, and international levels). However, such processes are not without friction. We demonstrate how processes of “translation” can ensure the integration of climate action into new contexts and result in producing new scalar relations but also exclusions. In doing so, we advance understandings of how multiscalar climate action is produced by nonstate actors.

A qualitative examination of calling in the context of job mobility among clergy

ABSTRACT We examine the significance of a calling from God in an individual’s experience of seeking to move between jobs and the implications for career theory and career counselling practice. In-depth interview data from 31 ministers in the Church of England (C of E) demonstrate how they invoke, interpret and navigate calling when planning and attempting a job move. Calling was often prominent in participants’ accounts, but institutional practices were experienced as undermining calling and the customary ways in which it was discerned when engaged in moving on. A social constructivist method identified four significant themes in faith-based narratives of calling in relation to job mobility. Prospects for integrating the findings into career theory and counselling practice are discussed.

Bias correction based on AR model in spurious regression

&lt;abstract&gt;&lt;p&gt;The regression of mutually independent time series, whether stationary or non-stationary, will result in autocorrelation in the random error term. This leads to the over-rejection of the null hypothesis in the conventional t-test, causing spurious regression. We propose a new method to reduce spurious regression by applying the Cochrane-Orutt feasible generalized least squares method based on a bias-corrected method for a first-order autoregressive model in finite samples. This method eliminates the requirements for a kernel function and bandwidth selection, making it simpler to implement than the traditional heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation consistent method. A series of Monte Carlo simulations indicate that our method can decrease the probability of spurious regression among stationary, non-stationary, or trend-stationary series within a sample size of 10–50. We applied this proposed method to the actual data studied by Yule in 1926, and found that it can significantly minimize spurious regression. Thus, we deduce that there is no significant regressive relationship between the proportion of marriages in the Church of England and the mortality rate in England and Wales.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/abstract&gt;

Aston Cantlow v Wallbank: a twenty-year retrospective

AbstractTo mark the passing of two decades since the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords handed down their judgment in the appeal of Aston Cantlow and Wilmcote with Billesley Parochial Church Council v Wallbank this article considers the enduring impact of the decision in terms of the constitutional position of the Church of England as a national church and analyses the public and private functions which it undertakes. In the altered landscape of the new Carolean era, with a decline in church attendance and a rise in secularism, it examines the reasoning of the five separate opinions delivered by the Law Lords and evaluates in retrospect various of the issues raised.

General Synod of the Church of England

The first item of business at the February group of sessions was to revive the General Synod (Remote Meetings) (Temporary Standings Orders) Measure 2020, which enabled Synod to conduct hybrid meetings. Previously in operation during the COVID-19 pandemic, the standing order had lapsed and was brought back into operation until 5 February 2026.

Do Polemismo Teológico ao Político: João Calvino e João Knox: Divergências Doutrinárias. Repercussões em Portugal

In the present chapter I shall highlight the conflicting readings that the reformers John Calvin and John Knox made of the doctrine of passive obedience and that of active resistance to the authorities found in the Bible, and the impact they had on the reformation of the Church in sixteenth-century England and Scotland. Furthermore, I shall succinctly discuss how such readings contributed to the political and philosophical debate of the day that legitimized the ousting of regimes that arbitrarily imposed a faith Knox believed idolatrous, and beckoned the dawn of modern democratic regimes. In addition, I extended the present discussion to include both the role the Scottish humanist and reformer George Buchanan played in historical events ensuing the reformation of the Church of Scotland, after his short stay in Portugal, where he was persecuted and condemned for heresy by the Lisbon Inquisition, as well as that of Robert Reid Kalley, a Scottish doctor who was also persecuted for his proselytizing endeavours in Madeira, in mid-nineteenth century, as I believe they both contributed to enlighten many Portuguese regarding the tolerability of arbitrary powers, both ecclesiastic and civil.

Legal Debates on ‘Ex Officio’ Procedure in Late 16th Century England: Robert Bill’s Position

The article examines the origins of the modern right to remain silent and not testify against oneself, which was established in legal discussions among English jurists in the sixteenth century and in the practice of English courts in the seventeenth century. The aim of the article is to analyze the conflict between common and civil law jurists in the late sixteenth century regarding the procedure of ex officio oath-taking, that is, taking an oath due to the prosecutor’s official position. The legal context of the 1580s-1590s, when there was a dispute over the activities of the High Commission, is reviewed. The legal texts under consideration demonstrate a struggle between inquisitorial practices and attempts to make the judicial process (including the church) “properly organized.” Special attention is paid to the position of Robert Bill, a clerk of the Privy Council. The author delves into the arguments Bill presents against ex officio oaths. The analysis of the legal debate allows for a broader understanding of several conflicts: the relationship between church and common law in England after the Reformation and the balance of power between authorities and subjects’ rights.