THIS simultaneously historical and contemporary book is based on the doctoral thesis of the author: a former churchwarden and chair of his deanery synod (it would have been interesting to know further details of his background).
Wallace’s burning and highly laudable desire is for modern Anglo-Catholics to rediscover the missionary zeal of their Victorian forebears: to strike confidently out into the mission field, to plant new churches, and thus to participate in the church-growth agenda of the Evangelical mainstream of the Church of England rather than often seem to stand apart from it.
He is struck, as he tells us twice, by the words on a (presumably modern) plaque on the canal towpath near St Mary Magdalene’s, Paddington: “The parish was founded in 1865 as a church plant from All Saints Margaret Street in a densely packed slum district by Fr Richard Temple West.” This, he says, was “a significant impetus for my research”: if it happened then, why can it not happen now?
Accordingly, Wallace explores the work of two Victorian church-planters. West himself (1827-93), after curacies that had been somewhat unsuccessful, owing to his own intransigence and the anti-Catholic mood of the time, eventually established St Mary Magdalene’s with a thriving worshipping congregation, an enormous children’s ministry, and much social and educational work in the parish. Richard Foster (1822-1910), a devout merchant and philanthropist, sacrificially provided massive endowments for the building of parish churches in expanding areas of London.
Alongside these Victorian predecessors, Wallace’s field work has focused on three anonymised modern church-plants, primarily, it seems, in and around the London area. The worship, ministry, and varying emphases of these are described in detail, based on Wallace’s own engagement with them over an extended period. Their stories over this time contain some dramas — at one plant, the curate unexpectedly becomes a Roman Catholic; at another, the original sponsoring parish withdraws support, and an Evangelical church near by mounts a takeover bid. All three are struck by Covid restrictions and the suspension of worship that made some bold visions “come to nought”.
Wallace’s aim is to show the points of continuity between the Victorian and modern church-planters whom he describes. Such connections include important themes, such as the centrality of eucharistic worship and commitment to the local community, but he less convincingly highlights what he sees as their shared commitment to contemporary Church of England buzzwords such as “leadership”, “sustainability”, “vision”, and “intentionality”.
These themes do not necessarily tell us very much about either Victorians or moderns: for example, it is difficult to believe that anybody would ever plant a church unintentionally. Moreover, one cannot help but be struck not so much by the similarities between the Victorian and modern church-planters as by the massive differences of social status and financial resources. Sometimes, anachronism is evident: for example, Wallace’s assertion that Richard Foster would have expected one of his churches (St Barnabas’s, Walthamstow) to describe itself as “an inclusive church, which accepts the ministry of women priests and women bishops, with specialist ministries welcoming migrants and LGBT people”.
My great disappointment is the lack of attention to deeper spiritual and theological questions. For example, does a gnawing lack of confidence about the Catholic claims of the Church of England, as evidenced by the curate who became a Roman Catholic, act as a dampener of missional endeavour? Does the Tractarians’ “doctrine of reserve” in communicating religious knowledge hinder evangelism in an era dominated by sound-bites and punchy video clips? And, perhaps most of all, what is the basis for a Catholic understanding of church growth today?
The Ven. Dr Edward Dowler is the Archdeacon of Hastings, and Priest-in-Charge of St John’s, Crowborough, in the diocese of Chichester.
Anglo-Catholic Church Planting: Can it work?
John Wallace
Sacristy Press £16.99
(978-1-78959-297-9)
Church Times Bookshop £15.29