'Will there be a Church of England after 2034? A short history 1534 – 2034, from the Act of Supremacy to today'.
Lecture 2: ‘The spread of the Reformation and civil war in the age of Shakespeare and of Pepys’
Both Edward VI and his half-sister Elizabeth I ensured a Protestant economy for the emerging Church of England against a background of social dissent at home and mainstream European isolation. Many saw the new settlement as too Catholic in its practice, retaining bishops, vestments and formal services, while the Church of Rome refused to accept the validity of the Church of England. Tensions, leading to Civil Wars across the kingdoms of Ireland, Scotland and England, meant an uneasy settlement for the church. The 1611 Authorised Version and 1662 Book of Common Prayer become tools for evangelism and mission.
The Act of Supremacy by which Henry VIII’s Parliament claimed rights over the English church cut links with the Pope in Rome was passed on 3 November 1534. These four lectures look at the broad history from the gradual establishment of the Church of England to the present and ask, ‘Will there be a Church of England in ten years’ time?’
Canon Nicholas Cranfield has been vicar of Blackheath All Saints’ in Southeast London for twenty five years. Before moving to the Diocese of Southwark he was Dean of Chapel and a Fellow of Selwyn College Cambridge where he taught history as an Associate Lecturer in the University. He was ordained in 1986 and after his curacy became Director of the Berkshire Christian Training Scheme working with the Bishop of Oxford’s adult education team.
He has been a regular arts correspondent for the Church Times for more than thirty years and writes widely on Art and Sacred Space. In 2007 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.