Free Church of England
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The Free Church of England is an Anglican church which separated from the established Church of England in 1844. The church was founded by evangelical clergy in Devon in response to the Anglo-Catholicism of Henry Phillpotts, the Bishop of Exeter. It was initially supported by Edward Adolphus St Maur, 11th Duke of Somerset, who built the first church in Bridgetown.
In 1927, the Free Church of England (FCE) entered into full communion with the Reformed Episcopal Church, a church through which it had originally received its bishops in historic succession. The Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) was founded in 1873 by Anglican evangelicals in the United States. The name, "Reformed Episcopal Church" is now an alternate name for the Free Church of England.
The Free Church of England regards itself as a Protestant Anglican church body, worshipping in the Low Church tradition and holding to the principles of sola scriptura, sola fide, and salvation only by the Name of Christ. Denied are such teachings as ministers being sacrificing priests and Apostolic Succession (which lineage nonetheless has been tenaciously maintained in the FCE up to the present) as essential for a valid ministry.
As of January 2004, The Free Church of England had two dioceses in England and a church in Russia-- The Church of Christ the Saviour, St. Petersburg. Parishes in England are concentrated in the north and south.
In the first years of the Twenty-first Century, several divisive issues faced FCE conventions. One was the question of church members also holding membership in Masonic Lodges. It was decided that such membership was incompatible with the Christian faith, and a decision was reached to call for all such church members who also hold membership in secret societies to be counselled about the conflicting values of the two.
Additionally, a still-unresolved proposal for the Church to enter into new ecumenical activities was debated. Some critics insisted that although the FCE had long supported fellowship with other Evangelical churches, the new ecumenical proposal did not limit itself to clearly Evangelical churches. This controversy has been the primary cause of a schism within the FCE, with one faction of the FCE maintaining broader relations with other churches, while the opposing faction ("the FCE-Evangelical Connexion") favors ecumenical relations within a narrower interpretation of historic FCE beliefs.
Another development stirring controversy within the FCE came from an action taken by the Church's North American partner. The Reformed Episcopal Church in the United States and Canada agreed to work towards a merger with the Anglican Province of America, a "continuing" Anglican jurisdiction that includes Anglo-Catholics. This move caused those in the opposition party to question the future doctrinal stance of the Reformed Episcopal churches and even the connection between the British and the American churches itself. At present, the FCE continues its relationship to its sister church in America.
By early 2006, it appeared likely that the two factions would not be reconciled to each other and might, therefore, become two separate churches at some time in the near future. The Primus, Rt. Rev. Kenneth J. W. Powell, has classed the Evangelical Connexion clergy as "dissenters" and the act of withholding funds from the national church as consitituting de facto withdrawal from the FCE. On that basis, legal action has been inaugurated to seize the properties and bank accounts of parishes affiliated with the Connexion. That effort is still unresolved by the courts.
On July 29 2006, the FCE consecrated two new bishops. Participants in the consecration included bishops from the Reformed Episcopal Church in North America, the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, the Malabar Independent Church, the Moravian Church, and a representative from the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion. The FCE-EC objected to the presence of a Moravian bishop at the service, since that denomination permits the ordination of women to the presbyterate. The Free Church of England has never ordained women.
The viability of this venerable but small church appears in doubt.
