Abstract
A substantial work of concerted scholarship, this volume provides a valuable guide to patterns of Nonconformist church life in England and Wales from the middle of the 17th century, when denominational differences were less marked, until the present. Although Nonconformism did not, strictly speaking, exist until the Act of Uniformity (1662), many of its constituent groups had discernible antecedents. After 1682, these groups came to represent varieties of Protestantism outside the Church of England and included Quakers, Baptists, Independents, Presbyterians, Unitarians and later Methodists. With subsequent toleration, the Nonconformist churches would later become known as the Free Churches. By 1851, their numbers were roughly equal with those inside the established church, their cultural and political significance remaining significant into the 20th century. In this collection, the history, polity, social contribution, liturgy (including hymnody), and theology of the Nonconformist churches are explored across several centuries in a series of thematic discussions that constitute the first part of this volume. The second part is a short encyclopaedia of entries explaining everything from the Act of Uniformity to Thomas Wilson, a Nonconformist philanthropist. Stephen Pope has brought together an impressive body of accessible scholarly material in what deserves to be a standard point of reference for scholars working in the field. The essays are not only historically informative, but also raise questions about the future of these ecclesiastical groupings and their contribution to the wider ecumenical church. At a time of rapid decline in the life of the Free Churches, described by Pope as ‘cruel and relentless’, it is good to be reminded of the enormous social and religious contribution of their proud traditions. The question of whether they are being succeeded by a ‘new Nonconformity’ (Bebbington), including Black, Pentecostal, and other church groupings, has now become a moot point.