Last Rites: The End of the Church of England

by Michael Hampson

Dire Sunday services, shrinking congregations, and financial meltdown are the realities of the contemporary Church of England. In this controversial book, Michael Hampson, who worked as a parish priest for 13 years, examines why the Church of England is in such crisis. He describes a church irreconcilably divided between liberals and evangelicals, shackled by tradition and with little resonance for the laity of modern Britain. He locates the roots of its demise in its history, from the reformation to the ordination of women and beyond. The internal fault lines of the church were exposed in 2003 by the forced resignation of Jeffrey John, the first openly gay man appointed a bishop. Michael Hampson demolishes the damaging arguments against homosexual clergy and movingly describes his own journey to ordination as a gay man within a prejudiced church. In a powerful conclusion, he argues that a radical transformation in both the culture and structure is the one hope for the renewal of the Church of England. This is a fascinating and fiery insider's view of a church that has failed its clergy, its laity, and a nation at large.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2006

Reviews

[Marc Maitland]

This is a very well-written (if partisan) book detailing what has happened to the Church of England since the Reformation, but concentrating on the 20th Century.



Most useful of all is a glossary at the end which, for someone like me on the fringes of the Anglican Church, nicely defines such concepts as Evangelism and Evangelicalism, and the differences between the Charismatic and Evangelical traditions etc.



Against a background of diminishing Church attendance, and the various splits that have occurred, and how this has left the Church of England (allegedly) in the grip of the Fundamentalist/Evangelical wing (by "Fundamentalist", I think he simply means those who oppose the ordination of homosexual men, such as the author) because the Liberals are in decline, he puts forward a plausible argument for disestablishment of the Church of England. He loses sight of the bigger picture, in my opinon, and therein lies the biggest flaw in his argument: taking the State out of the Church might not have a particularly adverse effect on the Church (there may indeed be some positive benefits - especially if individual parishes were allowed the freedom to run their own finances, but many would of course fail). But taking the State out of the Church would have a highly damaging effect on the State, in my opinion, especially at a time when other religions are in the ascendant. This is not the time for this Country to abandon its fundamental Christian bedrock, underpinned by a benign Church which not only tolerates but positively co-exists in harmony with other religions (Christian and non-Christian), and provides a bulwark against the two dangers of militant secularism (which is wholly intolerant of any religion, a la Dr. Dawkins) and Islamism which seeks to establish a worldwide Caliphate.



If the price to pay for withstanding those two real dangers is the contiuance of an admittedly divided and sadly declining Church of England as the Established Church, then so be it. Mr. Hampson's conclusion is, therefore, one with which I fundamentally disagree, but it was nevertheless a book I could not put down and enjoyed tremendously.

[James Frederick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read. I knew SOME of the history of the Church of England, but not nearly as much as I thought.

This book speaks to what it means to NOT have a separation of Church and State. It is a very sad commentary on what has happened with the Church of England and what a soul crushing experience it must be to be clergy in that church.

But the book does more than just point out problems. That is often the easiest thing to do. The author also offers potential solutions that could theoretically save what is left of the church.

Ironically, he points to the church in the U.S. as somewhat of a model, at a time when U.S. churches appear to be suffering some of the same issues that poisoned the Church of England. The book was written in 2006, which partially explains the irony. It is sad to see what happened in the Church of England being replicated in the U.S., though.

This book offers an important commentary and history, as well as a cautionary tale for what can happen when politics and religion mix. Politics has poisoned and polluted so much of the civic landscape. The church USED to offer a literal Sanctuary from that. To the extent that it no longer does so, the decline of the church as an institution and an important check on the incivility and disharmony in the remainder of the world will continue.

[Eoghan Rua · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is more of a polemical tract against the Church of England by somebody who rage quit, rather than an objective study seeking truth. It is part of a cottage industry of writings which claims that if only the Church of England had even more homosexuality within it, then the general public would be suddenly lining up down the street to take their seats in the pews again. This despite the fact that there is no evidence that homosexuality is actually popular in England, rather than being politely tolerated, nor that it has anything at all to do with why the average English man and woman do not attend Church anymore. We're shown a struggle between two quite ugly elements "liberals" and "evangelicals", while completely ignoring what the general public like about the Church; a sense of national tradition, community, continuity, place, Englishness, the Laudian High Church aesthetics, charming choral evensong, the lack of fanaticism (whether "liberal"-bolshevik or judeo-"evangelical").