Birmingham's Evangelical Free Churches and The
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BIRMINGHAM’S EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCHES AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR by ANDY VAIL A Thesis Submitted to The University of Birmingham For the degree of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY School of History & Cultures College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham 2019 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract This thesis demonstrates that the First World War did not have a major long-term impact on the evangelical free churches of Birmingham. Whilst many members were killed in the conflict, and local church auxiliaries were disrupted, once the participants – civil and military – returned, the work and mission of the churches mostly continued as they had before the conflict, the exception being the Adult School movement, which had been in decline prior to the conflict. It reveals impacts on local church life, including new opportunities for women amongst the Baptist and Congregational churches where they began to serve as deacons. The advent of conscription forced church members to personally face the issue as to whether as Christians they could in conscience bear arms. The conflict also speeded ecumenical co-operation nationally, in areas such as recognition of chaplains, and locally, in organising local prayer meetings and commemorations. The close of the conflict galvanised support for the League of Nations and for international co-operation which had been interrupted by the conflict. It has shown evidence of combatants and non-combatants alike being sustained through the conflict by their faith. Responses to the conflict varied from enthusiastic support to absolute opposition. i Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisors, Mike Snape and Hugh McLeod, for their support and encouragement. Thanks also to David Beattie for his proof-reading. I wish also to record my appreciation to the staff in the former Birmingham City Library archives, for their patient assistance in enabling me to consult a wide range of materials from both their archives and local studies. Also thanks to staff at the University of Birmingham Libraries, Dr Williams’s Library (London), the Angus Library and Archive (Regent’s Park College, Oxford), Friends’ House Library, Woodbrooke College Library, John Rylands’ Library (University of Manchester), the People’s Museum (Manchester) and the British Library for their help. I am particularly grateful to Bournville United Reformed Church, Carrs Lane United Reformed Church, the People’s Chapel, Beacon United Reformed Church (Rubery), Stratford Road Baptist Church and the Birmingham Battalion of the Boys’ Brigade for allowing me to consult their locally-held archives, and for the many churches across Birmingham that permitted me to explore and photograph their buildings. I am grateful to my wife, Carol, and our children, Jess, Josh, Rachel and Dan for tolerating the time it has taken me to do this research. Dedication I dedicate this thesis to two Birmingham free church Conscientious Objectors who gave their lives for their faith during the First World War: H. Shackleford (formerly of Carrs Lane early morning class) who died whilst serving as a stretcher bearer for a New Zealand regiment, and Ernest Woodward, the leader of Guildford Street Baptist Adult School who died as a consequence of his treatment whilst imprisoned as a Conscientious Objector. ii. Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... ii Dedication ................................................................................................................. ii Contents .................................................................................................................. iii List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................. vii Chapter One - Introduction .................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Historiographical Survey .................................................................................... 2 1.2.1. Overviews on Churches and the First World War ....................................... 2 1.2.2 Denominational Studies .................................................................................. 6 1.2.3 Studies of Anti-War Movements ......................................................................... 15 1.2.4. Local Studies of Urban Faith/Religion in England ........................................... 18 1.2.5 Studies of Birmingham and the First World War ............................................. 20 1.3. Methodology ............................................................................................................ 21 1.4 Birmingham and the First World War .................................................................. 26 1.4.1 Birmingham’s Free Churches in the Nineteenth Century ................................ 27 1.4.2 The Civic or Municipal Gospel............................................................................ 30 1.5 Numerical Strength: The Religious Censuses of 1851 & 1892 ............................ 33 1.6 Birmingham Free Church Co-operation ............................................................... 39 1.6.1 Evangelical Free Church Councils ...................................................................... 39 1.6.2 United Missions ..................................................................................................... 41 1.7 Other Significant Factors ........................................................................................ 41 1.8 The Anglicans in Birmingham ............................................................................... 43 1.9 Labour Churches and Allied Movements ............................................................. 44 1.10 Birmingham’s Nineteenth-Century Free Churches as Pioneers in Ministry ... 46 1.11 Birmingham’s Free Churches in 1914 ................................................................. 48 1.12. Youth and Children’s Movements ...................................................................... 52 1.13 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 54 Chapter 2: The Free Churches and War ............................................................. 56 2.1. Christian Theological Approaches to the Issue of War ...................................... 56 2.2. The Outbreak of War: the Free Churches’ National Responses ....................... 58 2.3. Birmingham Dissenters’ Pre-war Attitudes to War and Militarism ................. 59 2.4 Birmingham Free Church Responses to the First World War ........................... 66 2.4.1. Birmingham Old Dissenter Responses to the War ........................................... 66 2.4.2. Birmingham Wesleyan Methodist Responses to the War ................................ 73 iii. 2.4.2.1. Case study: Saltley Brotherhood (Wesleyan) ................................................. 74 2.5. Birmingham Free Church Members and Military Service ................................ 76 2.5.1. Birmingham Free Churches and Conscription ................................................. 86 2.6. Birmingham Free Churches and Military Use of Church Premises .................. 90 2.7. Military Parades in Birmingham Churches ......................................................... 92 2.8 Conscientious Objection to the First World War ................................................. 93 2.8.1 Religious Affiliation of Objectors ........................................................................ 95 2.8.2. Birmingham Free Church Opposition to the War ........................................... 97 2.8.3 Conscientious Objection and Other Opposition to the War in Birmingham 105 2.8.4. Birmingham’s Military Tribunals - Conscientious Objectors ....................... 108 2.9. New Christian Movements: Pacifist Traditions ................................................. 113 2.9.1. Case Study: Birmingham Churches of Christ Attitudes to War before 1914 ....................................................................................................................................... 114 2.9.2. Early British Pentecostals and Warfare .......................................................... 121 2.9.3. Birmingham Apostolics/Pentecostals and the First World War ................... 123 2.9.4. The Salvation Army and the First World War ............................................... 126 2.10 Birmingham’s Free Churches, Post-war Attitudes .......................................... 130 2.11 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 136