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AECA at 150

WILLIAM TAYLOR

IN THE second half of the nineteenth century, The Tractarian (or “High
Church”) party of the Church of England came into increasing promi-
nence and positions of in?uence within that church. As it did so, it em-
ployed particular “narratives of identity” to present itself as a sister
church to Orthodox Churches. As such, these narratives in?uenced the
Church of England’s involvement with all Orthodox Churches. What
was important to the Church of England during this time was to take
the characteristics considered to be essential to an accurate description
of the Church, and to present them as having been present from the
Church’s origin. The sense of continuity and identity thereby invoked
was used by the Church of England to describe its own history in ways
that were designed to present itself as a church possessing historical and
ecclesiological authenticity.1

The search for ecclesial authenticity and recognition was the
principal motivating factor of those involved in this work. There were
many factors within the Church of England that were changing its char-
acter, and at the same time, propelling it towards closer relations with
the Eastern Orthodox Churches. These factors included the growth of
Tractarianism and the in?uence of the High Church party within the
Church of England, the signi?cance of Royal and Prime Ministerial pre-
ferment of clergy from this section of the Church of England, the e?ect
of the Papal Bull Apostolicae Curae, the growth of religious communities
for men and women and their deployment in the mission ?eld, and
growth in knowledge of the Syriac tradition leading to a Syriac and
Eastern policy from the Church of England. At the same time, these
developments were bitterly contested within the Church of England,

1 In this scheme of things, the Tractarians used the term ‘apostolic succession’ to describe their
claim to unbroken continuity with pre-Reformation England. The term Ecclesia Anglicana was also
often used by them in the same way.

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