Anglican-methodist Ecumenism: The Search for Church Unity, 1920-2020

This book offers a detailed analysis of one of the key episodes of twentieth-century ecumenism, focusing on the efforts made to reconcile the Church of England and the Methodist Church of Great Britain in the years since the First World War.

Drawing on newly available archives as well as on a broad range of historical, theological, and liturgical expertise, the contributions explore what was attempted, why success proved elusive, and how the quest for unity was reconfigured into the twenty-first century. The volume sets contemporary ecumenical ambitions in historical context, explains the origins, course, and aftermath of the Anglican–Methodist ‘Conversations’ of 1955–72, retrieves their enduring global legacy, and explores the fraught nature of the ecumenical quest.

It will be of key interest to scholars with an interest in ecumenism, Methodist studies, and church history.

Jane Platt is an archivist at the Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History, where she listed its Anglican–Methodist Union collection. She is Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the author of several books and articles on church history, and a member of the editorial team of CWAAS Transactions.

Martin Wellings is Superintendent of the Barnet and Queensbury Circuit of the Methodist Church. He is an Ecumenical Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and Chair of the Methodist Church’s Faith and Order Committee.