A People's Church

For most of the history of Britain, [the Church] was so bound into culture, values and beliefs that it would have made little sense for people to see it as anything other than the overarching framework in which they interpreted the world. It formed, then, something like a sort of 'common sense' that lurked in the background of all of the decisions they had to make, the experiences they had, and the encounters that one way or another affected their lives... That is precisely how we have to see the history of religion: it's not separable from the rest of human society, but woven in and through it. Weaving social, political, and religious history together with church music and architecture, A People's Church is a clear-eyed look at Anglican history through the ages. This history is as tumultuous as it is long. The transformative 1534-1660 period shaped not only the Church of England but the country itself, encompassing the Reformation, the return to Catholicism under Mary, and the Civil War. This was closely followed by the Restoration of the monarchy in 1688, the expulsion of the Dissenters, and the 1689 Bill of Rights. By the time of John Henry Newman and the Industrial Revolution, the church was fragile. How, then, has it endured? And what of its future?