This term at GDMC we've been taking a tour through the history of the Church of England from the Reformation to the present day. At times, given the speed at which we have covered topics, I've been reminded of that film from 1970 "If it's Tuesday, This Must be Belgium". It has however, been a most interesting time. The lectures and background reading have given a historical context to both the traditions and the challenges of the church today.
I'm reasonably familiar with church history over the past fifty years since it has been part of my life. I've seen changes in worship styles and in the range of services. The Book of Common Prayer has been supplemented first by Series Two and Three, then by the ASB and finally in 2000 by a whole raft of Common Worship "manuals". I've seen the number of ordained ministers drop steeply with churches closing and parishes amalgamating.  I've even seen changes in hymns; old ones are rarely ever sung and lots of new ones have become very popular. I've also seen and heard, and this is the telling bit, people regretting changes and longing for a return to the way "things always used to be".
I confess to a very sketchy knowledge of what was going on in the church in the last five hundred years. What I have discovered over these last weeks is that there's nothing new. The church in England from the early 1500s has been in a state of flux with at least one major upheaval taking place each century. The 16th century saw some really significant changes as Henry VIII schemed to bend the church to his will and ended up ceding from Rome. New services were introduced in English so it wasn't just the clerics who could understand the words. There were major theological changes as the church distanced itself from the Catholic Church in Europe. Forty turbulent years followed and it was not until the reign of Elizabeth I that there was any period of stability. There are parallels with the reign of our current monarch Elizabeth II. The 17^th century saw upheavals as a result of the Civil War and Commonwealth - think of Puritans and Oliver Cromwell and the growth in the independent churches.
Our congregations today are getting smaller and older (it's not just in Elstead and Thursley) with growth seen mostly in the Pentecostal and Evangelical churches. This is exactly what happened in the 18^th century following the growth of Enlightenment and the emphasis on reason. The church split and was challenged again as people went off to join John and Charles Wesley and the Methodists.
England in the 19^th century was a "busy" time. The first half was a period of rapid change and turbulence. Legislation was passed in this country included the great Reform Acts. There were new challenges from science, philosophy and biblical scholarships during a time when much original material relating to the Bible was being discovered in the Middle East. The church though was most affected by the growth in the Oxford Movement with its focus on liturgy and ceremony - and times past. Between 1825 and 1875 4,000 churches were built or enlarged. Thursley church itself underwent three restorations in 1842, 1855 and 1884 each more radical than its predecessors. There were two reasons. The first was the doubling of its population in just under 100 years. The second was the inspiration of the Oxford Movement to return to the Gothic styles of the 13^th and 14^th centuries. John Chandler a fellow at Corpus Christi, Oxford was the vicar of Witley and patron of Thursley at that time, and had known the leaders of the Oxford Movement.
The Wesleys and the Oxford Movement that was followed by the Evangelical Revival forced changes. The Church of England in the 19th century was spurred into re-examining its role and authority, the selection and education of its clergy and the forms of worship. However, it also created divisions in the church which still exist today. It's quite uncanny the similarities between these actions and responses and what we have seen in the last fifty years.
Quite what the 21^st century holds for the church I cannot predict. The church has been growing further away from the state and a split may very well become a fait accompli. We are now a multi-cultural society with a massive growth in non-Christian religions reflecting the growth of the descendants of immigrants who arrived after the Second World War. The church needs to think out its role in such a society. I believe that England is a spiritual country with a moral vacuum which the church could fill. That takes leadership. The deliberations at General Synod and then at the Lambeth Conference next month will certainly provide signposts for the coming years. One thing is certain, changes will continue to be called for and made. The only thing that is certain is the endless and unconditional love that our God has for the whole of His creation. How we respond is up to us.