The established churches, church growth, and secularization in imperial Britain, c1830-1930

This chapter considers the question of whether church establishments, representing the alliance of church and state, contributed to church decline. It does so through a study of the established Church of England and the established Church of Scotland during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The chapter argues that these churches experienced a remarkable resurgence in the decades after 1830—the period representing the height of British world influence—building thousands of new churches, conducting a vibrant home and overseas mission, educating much of the British youth, mobilizing lay support, and raising significant financial donations to supplement their historic tithes and endowments. The motivation behind this growth was largely a sense of Christian responsibility for the higher interests of the British peoples and Empire. Although this revival of the established churches waned after about 1900, there is no evidence that established religion was a cause of church decline in Britain.