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Churches and Adult Education in the Edwardian Era: Learning from the Experiences of Hampshire Congregationalists
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 June 2019
Abstract
Through their enthusiastic embrace of the doctrine of the ‘institutional church’, late Victorian and Edwardian Congregationalists demonstrated their commitment to, inter alia, the intellectual development of church members and adherents. Many churches, large and small, sponsored mutual improvement societies, literary and debating societies and programmes of public lectures, as well as ad hoc talks, covering every conceivable subject from the natural sciences to contemporary social and political issues. What motivated Congregationalists to engage in activities of this kind, and to what extent were they seen as an integral part of their religious vocation? In considering these questions, evidence is drawn from initiatives of two Congregational churches in Edwardian Hampshire: London Street, Basingstoke's Mutual Improvement Society and Avenue, Southampton's annual programme of lectures. What emerges is an approach to ministry that blurred the boundary between the sacred and the secular and a gradual weakening of commitment as churches were superseded by secular providers. In reviewing an under-explored aspect of the relationship between religion and education, the article serves as an addition to the limited literature on this subject.
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- Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 2019
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