75 years of Church Society
On June 1st, 1950, the Memorandum of Association establishing the objectives of Church Society was signed, formally uniting two evangelical Anglican organisations: the Church Association and the National Church League. Both these organisations had their own lengthy history of mergers, so that the moment in 1950 marked the culmination of evangelical Anglican unity over more than a century. Since then, of course, Church Society has more recently merged with both Reform and the Fellowship of Word and Spirit. Through all of these different groups and names, the goals have remained remarkably consistent: to call the Church of England to live up to her reformed, protestant formularies and foundations.
75 years of Church Society
CS75 podcast with Andrew Atherstone, Gerald Bray and Lee Gatiss
Arthur Bennett (editor of The Valley of Vision and Church Society council member) on Reformed Spirituality from 1983 (this is a digitisation of a poor quality cassette recording from more than 40 years ago so the sound quality is not good)
Church Society people from the past
50th birthday edition of Crossway
Try your hand at this Prayer Book Quiz from 1961
In 2025, we can look back on that history with enormous gratitude to the Lord for all the work he has accomplished through Church Society and our forebears. The challenges to biblical faith continue to grow. In the 19th century, the primary concern was to fight Ritualism - what we would now call Anglo-catholicism. During the 20th century, the nation as a whole became increasingly secular and liberal, and the church faced challenges to traditional ethics from within and without. Over the past forty years, the fight for complementarianism has been at the forefront of much of Church Society's work, and we continue this through our partnership with the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, as well as in our own work. Most recently, of course, the proposed blessings of same-sex relationships and the possibility of clergy being permitted to be in same-sex civil marriages, have been a primary concern.
As we celebrate the past 75 years and more, we are conscious of the ongoing need for an organisation like Church Society, bringing together conservative evangelical Anglicans, teaching the biblical faith, and engaging within the structures of the Church of England to contend for reform and renewal. We are praying for 750 new members and 75 new partner churches to join us this year.
Will you partner with us in that ongoing work?
Make a 75th anniversary donation
Join as a new Church Society member for just £7.50*
Join as a new Partner Church for just £75**
We're proud of the resources we produce, continuing in Church Society's long tradition of publishing tracts, journals and books for the whole church. In our archives we have everything from Sunday school curricula and youth group resources to systematic theology books and a theological journal. Today we publish a weekly podcast, a quarterly magazine, a wide range of blog posts, all kinds of Christian books, as well as continuing to publish our theological journal. The next issue of Crossway, out later this month, will give a deeper look into the history, present and future work of Church Society.
Celebrate our publishing ministry
Church Society has always been a partnership, drawing together evangelical Anglicans from around the country. We are our members - without you, the society does not exist! We value all members and associates, for their partnership through prayer, participation, and financial support. The monthly Church Society members prayer meeting is this Thursday at 4pm and we would love as many of our members as possible to join us for that gathering. You can now also express your support for Church Society using our new branded merchandise! There are mugs, hoodies, tins of mints, pens and t-shirts available in a good range of sizes, as well as our Church Society lapel pins. All orders of physical items from our online shop made this week will include a free pen!***
Browse the Church Society merchandise
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*This membership will last until the end of 2025 when it will be renewed at the standard rate. This offer does NOT apply to existing members whose subscription for 2025 is overdue.
**Partner churches will join until the end of 2025 when their partnership will be renewed at the standard rate. This offer does NOT apply to existing churches renewing their partnership.
***Please note that branded garments are NOT shipped from the Church Society office, so it your order does not include any other physical items, you will not receive a free pen.