Anglo-Catholic Church Planting: An Exploration in Practical Theology.

Abstract

This thesis describes research undertaken into church planting in the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England as a piece of Practical Theology and engages also with areas of missiology and ecclesiology. It does it in a number of ways. It engages with literature around church planting and the tension between the whole Fresh Expressions agenda, of which church planting is one element, and the traditional role of the historic parish and its church. It also looks at specific historical Anglo-Catholic literature as the thesis aims to make a comparison between Victorian builders of new churches and church planting today, but highlights two less noted leaders in the expansion of Victorian Anglo-Catholicism and concentrates on the work of these two specific Victorians as a way of avoiding over-generalisation, but also because as they had not been referenced in much of the literature as being leaders in the revival of Catholic worship or the establishment of new churches in the Church of England. They have not been the subject of previous academic study, but as will be seen, they both played significant roles. Participant observation was undertaken in three church plants, set up by Anglo-Catholic parishes, monthly over a period of eighteen months, and detailed descriptions of these plants and my engagement with them are provided in subsequent chapters. The research method used was a limited version of Grounded Theory as it supports the methodology of Practical Theology. This then enabled me to use a thematic analysis to draw out six themes, common in differing degrees to each church. I was then able to apply these themes to the Victorian subjects and their work to establish some important similarities of approach. This leads to a conclusion with recommendations for future Anglo-Catholic church planting.