Bishops: The Changing Nature of the Anglican Episcopate in Mainland Britain - Hardcover

Keulemans, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 146535395X ISBN 13: 9781465353955

Publisher: Xlibris, 2011

Synopsis

There has been no serious study of Anglican bishops since Kenneth Kirk published Apostolic Ministry in 1946 This new book goes straight back to the New Testament and the Early Church to discover the little known origins of episcopal ministry and how it came to Britain through the efforts of first the Celtic and then the Roman Church Increasing politicisation by William the Conqueror and his successors is examined in depth as is Cranmer s rediscovery of its essentially teaching and pastoral functions of the episcopate at the Reformation Lancelot Andrewes s career is spotlighted to find the true qualities of the classic 17th century Anglican bishop before he declined into the political hack and social climber of the 18th century A chapter on the 19th century shows how Queen Victoria her entourage her Prime Ministers and her Archbishops of Canterbury all played lively parts in the appointment of new bishops with considerable tussles frequently occurring between them The history can be truly absorbing A statistical analysis reveals how the English episcopate has changed in the century between 1905 and 2005 noting that while the educational backgrounds of bishops have not altered greatly with Oxbridge still a major influence their social backgrounds and ecclesiastical careers now tend to follow a different path Has this produced a better episcopate The episcopal histories of the Church in Wales and the Scottish Episcopal Church get a chapter each which include a close up of their contrasting methods for appointing bishops and the resulting difference in atmosphere between these two bodies The Scottish chapter shows how the Episcopalians democratic electoral system travelled to the USA at the end of the 18th century and subsequently influenced the episcopal organisation of nearly all newer branches of the Anglican Communion A chapter on changing thinking about episcopacy in the Church of England and elsewhere reveals several trends including moves tow

About this title

About the Author

The Revd. Michael Keulemans is currently Associate Priest in the Llanfyllin Group of Parishes with responsibility for Llanwddyn, a village in the Berwyn Mountains that supplies the City of Liverpool with its drinking water. He was ordained priest in 1993 and holds Master of Theology and Doctor of Ministry degrees from the University of Wales and was awarded the Merchant Navy Medal in 2005. He worked for just under a quarter of a century as Warden of the M.V. Loach Project, which gave children and young people the opportunity to crew a cargo ship from the Thames Estuary to London and latterly educated inner-city lads in Liverpool for deck and engineer traineeships in the Merchant Navy. Previously he worked as a research assistant with an international oil journal, spent some time as an operational fireman in the London Fire Brigade and taught in primary and secondary schools in London and Kent. He served for seven years on the Church of England's Church Assembly and General Synod.

Edition details

• Publisher: Xlibris
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 146535395X
• ISBN 13: 9781465353955
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 316