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This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ What kind of place is the Anglican parish? A theological description Rumsey, Andrew Paul Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. 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A theological description Andrew Rumsey Research Based Thesis Doctorate in Theology and Ministry September 2015 1 Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Part I Christ in our place: The Anglican parish in theory and tradition ............................. 13 Chapter 1: The dynamics of place-formation ................................................................... 14 Chapter 2: Place in Christological perspective ................................................................ 28 Chapter 3: Spatial theory and the praxis of parish ........................................................ 57 Part II Common Ground: The Anglican parish in vocation & practice ............................... 80 Chapter 4: The national parish ............................................................................................... 81 Chapter 5: The parish as neighbourhood ........................................................................ 102 Chapter 6: The natural parish .............................................................................................. 133 Conclusion: A kind of belonging ............................................................................................... 159 Appendix: Parish and Belonging in Oxted and Tandridge ............................................ 166 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................... 212 2 Abstract Despite being, for centuries, ‘the basic territorial unit in the organisation of this country’ (Pounds, 2000), the Anglican parish remains a remarkably neglected theme, rarely described in theological terms. This Research-Based Thesis undertakes such a description, underpinned by two related convictions: firstly, that the Church’s vision for parish ministry would be enhanced by what De Soja (1989) called the ‘reassertion of space’ in contemporary social theory – a movement that has received only limited application to the parish. Secondly, that the theology of place would equally benefit from comprehending the rich inheritance of spatial praxis invested in the parish system. Having surveyed the interdisciplinary currents flowing into this theme, the first part of the thesis begins with a methodology that grounds place-formation in a dynamic cycle of ontology, revelation, tradition and vocation – a pattern, also, for the structure of this research. The second chapter explores the basis for viewing the parish in terms of ‘Christ in our place’, a significant theme in protestant Christology, but not often applied geographically. Building on this theological foundation, the thesis considers how recent developments in human geography enable the perception of parish as a spatial, ethical practice of ‘neighbourhood’. The second part of the research weighs the parish’s theoretical description against its enduring historical role in English society. This ‘vocation’, it is argued, comprises a threefold call to nation, neighbourhood and nature: each being a form of ‘common ground’. The conclusion, having summarised these findings, addresses certain challenges facing the Anglican parish, proposing its renewal as a radical form of local belonging. An ethnographic case study, ‘Parish and Belonging in Oxted and Tandridge’, is included as an appendix, providing an important empirical accompaniment. At a time when its viability is increasingly questioned, it is hoped that this thesis will contribute towards future strategy for parochial ministry and the broader national conversation about ‘localism’ and cultural identity. 3 Introduction ‘The church’, wrote Richard Hooker, ‘is a visible society… the place and limits whereof are certain’.1 As a foundational form of ecclesiastical polity, the ‘place’ of the parish (in its varying forms), in one sense, is plain – to the extent that Anthea Jones (2000) can describe it as ‘the bedrock of European civilization as a whole’.2 Although by no means the only version of parochial organisation3, the English - specifically Anglican - parish is uniquely embedded in national culture and society, by virtue both of its antiquity and close allegiance with secular governance. Yet it remains an elusive theme, whose ‘place’, theologically, is far from certain.4 Whilst ecclesiastical history has long formed a pillar of academic training for ordained ministry, ecclesiastical geography has not - contributing to the often-uninformed assumptions in contemporary church debate and mission strategy regarding the definition of ‘local’.5 At a time when its relevance and viability are increasingly questioned within the Church of England and with plans progressing for the Church in Wales’ abandonment of parochial organisation6, an assessment of the profoundly influential role of the parish system in English life is of the greatest import. This thesis will examine the distinctive form of social and communal life created by the Anglican parish: applying and, hopefully, advancing, the emerging discipline of ‘place-theology’ by beginning to fill a conspicuous gap in contemporary scholarship. 1 Richard Hooker, Of The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity Book 3:1:14 (London, J.M.Dent & Sons, 1954), p.297. 2 A Thousand Years of the English Parish (Moreton-in-Marsh, Windrush Press, 2000), p.27. 3 For an overview of parish in European context, cf. Katherine French, The Parish in English Life, 1400-1640 (Manchester, MUP, 1997), c.2; also C.J.Godfrey in The Church in Anglo-Saxon England (Cambridge, CUP, 1962), c.9. Authors generally concur both on the universality of the parochial idea in the Western Church and also its unique penetration in England. 4 Cf. Malcom Torry (ed.) The Parish: People, Place and Ministry: a theological and practical exploration (Norwich, Canterbury Press, 2004); Guest, Tusting & Woodhead (eds.), Congregational studies in the UK: Christianity in a Post-Christian Context (Aldershot, Ashgate, 2006). 5 The Report Mission-Shaped Church states, for example, ‘a geographical approach (i.e. to the organisation of churches) alone is not sufficient’, without recognising the essentially geographical nature of the ‘networks’ it espouses. (London, CHP, 2004), p.12. 6 For details of the plan to replace parishes with ‘ministry areas’, see http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/review/ministry-areas/, accessed 16/6/15. 4 Viewing the land David Martin (1988) has warned that ‘parish’ can be easily become a ‘code-word’ for ‘mere communitarian nostalgia’.7 Because parochial life is vulnerable to this familiar criticism - which must be acknowledged at the outset – the two parts of this thesis take care to balance theoretical or idealistic conceptions of the parish with the evidence of its historic place in English society. In the appendix, an ethnographic case study, ‘Parish and Belonging in Oxted and Tandridge’, seeks to test the ‘reality’ of parish in one contemporary situation, finding it to be a strikingly potent indicator of common life. Conducted before the main body of the thesis was written, this study informs and illustrates much of the theoretical research and provides an accompanying empirical point of reference. In an important sense, therefore, this thesis is a personal reflection on ministerial practice, motivated in part by the desire to understand the traditions, concepts and practices that shape a perception of place ‘as’ parish. Whilst it may thus be seen as a work of practical theology, it will try to avoid the tendency of that discipline to lean heavily towards prioritising local description over theoretical exposition, with the result that, as graham, Ward and Walton (2005) acknowledge: The analysis of local context … is often more accomplished than engagement with church history, doctrine and Bible.8 given the wide, interdisciplinary