Church and City Revisited: New Evidence from the North of England, c. 1815–1914.

ENGLISH church history; CHRISTIANITY; PROGRESS; ECONOMIC development & religion; LITERATURE reviews; AGRICULTURE -- Religious aspects; RELIGION; NINETEENTH century

The article reviews the state of the Church of God in nineteenth century England and its position in the context of a rapidly changing society. The author principally argues against the idea that the Church had lost urban followers. According to him, the church had traditionally been associated with farming interests; the ministry was drawn from local society; played an important role in rural England, which it could not do in the towns. The church could not keep pace with the changes setting in and had to be left behind.