Modern Religious History and the Contemporary Church

在这个为期三年的项目中，约翰·沃尔夫教授和亚瑟·伯恩斯教授与伦敦教区和兰贝斯宫图书馆合作，在学术历史学家和当代教会之间架起了一座桥梁。在两名研究人员的支持下，伯恩斯和沃尔夫将与伦敦教区副主教威廉·雅各布合作召开研讨会，与负责制定教区和国家政策的教区领导人讨论对当代问题的历史见解。历史学家还将与教区职业发展主任尼尔·埃文斯(Neil Evans)合作，为神职人员和其他地方领导人的培训计划做出贡献，就实际问题提供历史视角。在伦敦各地举办的当地研讨会将吸引更多的教会和社区受众。所有这些遭遇都将利用兰贝斯宫图书馆的资源。资源包和网站将把整个项目的成果传达给更广泛的受众，并为那些可能受到启发进一步探索当地教会或会众历史的人提供专家指导。这一开创性的项目汇集了两位著名的现代英国宗教历史学家，这是英国国教最重要的档案，也是其最具活力和战略重要性的教区。在过去的二十年里，改变了学术界对宗教在现代英国社会中地位的理解，并产生了对圣公会与国家和地方社区、作为牧民和传教士事业、作为对公共政策的影响以及作为一个日益多元化的环境中的社区的动态关系的深刻认识。在探索这些主题时，历史学家，包括项目负责人沃尔夫和伯恩斯，对伦敦教区的历史给予了极大的关注，并利用了兰贝斯宫图书馆的丰富藏品。这是英国宗教历史的领先国家档案馆，拥有由博物馆、图书馆和档案馆理事会指定的杰出收藏品；并包含伦敦宗教史的关键档案，包括其圣公会主教的文件。然而，目前的圣公会神职人员和常去教堂的人对这些学术工作的大部分仍然一无所知，他们也不熟悉它所基于的丰富的档案。这剥夺了教会在设计应对当前许多挑战的方法方面的重要智力资产。这与维多利亚时代和爱德华时代教会面临的问题有着惊人的相似之处；此外，当地社区，无论是常去教堂的人还是不去教堂的人，都缺乏对产生他们所处的社会(和建筑)的过程的关键洞察力。对于伦敦教区来说，鉴于相关历史工作的丰富和遇到的问题的重要性，情况尤其如此。它是一个重要的大都市机构，通过学校、社区服务、福利提供以及丰富建筑遗产的维护和利用，与当代伦敦的多种族社区接触。该项目对所有参与者都有巨大的潜在好处。研究现代教会历史的学者将通过了解当代教会的运作方式获得更多的洞察力。历史学家将以新的视角看待他们所追求的主题，并将能够通过文章和会议论文将他们获得的知识反馈给更广泛的学术界。兰贝斯宫图书馆将受益于其重要藏品的更多知识和使用，从而进一步促进其藏品的利用。当地社区将获得更好的自我理解。教区将能够扎根于提供牧场和服务伦敦人民的方法，从而更好地认识到自己过去在这些努力中的成功和失败。

In this 3-year project Professors John Wolffe and Arthur Burns join forces with the Diocese of London and Lambeth Palace Library to bridge the gap between academic historians and the contemporary Church. Supported by two research officers, Burns and Wolffe will collaborate with Archdeacon William Jacob of the diocese of London to convene seminars in which historical insights into contemporary problems will be discussed with leading figures in the diocese responsible for formulating both diocesan and national policy. Working with Neil Evans, the diocese's director of professional development, the historians will also contribute to training programmes for clergy and other local leaders, furnishing historical perspectives on practical concerns. Local seminars in locations across London will engage wider church and community audiences. All these encounters will draw on the resources of Lambeth Palace Library. Resource packs and a website will convey the fruits of the project as a whole to a still wider audience and provide expert guidance to those who may be inspired to further explore the history of their local church or congregation.This pioneering project brings together two leading historians of modern English religion, the most important archive of the Church of England and the most dynamic and strategically important of its dioceses. The last twenty years have transformed academic understandings of the place of religion in modern English society, and produced a sophisticated appreciation of the dynamics of the Anglican church's relations with both national and local communities, as a pastoral and missionary enterprise, as an influence on public policy, and as a community in an increasingly multifaith environment. In exploring these themes, historians, including project leaders Wolffe and Burns, have devoted much attention to the history of the diocese of London, and exploited the rich holdings of Lambeth Palace Library. This is the leading national repository for English religious history, with collections designated outstanding by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council; and containing key archives for the religious history of London, including the papers of its Anglican bishops. Yet much of this academic work remains largely unknown to current Anglican clergy and churchgoers, who are also unfamiliar with the rich archives on which it is based. This deprives the church of a vital intellectual asset in devising approaches to many current challenges. There are striking parallels with the issues that confronted the Victorian and Edwardian church; moreover local communities, both of churchgoers and non-churchgoers, lack crucial insights into the processes that generated the societies (and buildings) in which they find themselves. For the diocese of London, this is particularly the case given the wealth of relevant historical work and the importance of the issues encountered. It is a key metropolitan institution engaged with the multi-ethnic community of contemporary London through schools, community services, welfare provision, and the maintenance and utilisation of a rich built heritage.This project has great potential benefits for all involved. Academics working on the history of the modern church will gain additional insight through understanding how the contemporary church operates.The historians will see the themes they are pursuing in a new light, and will be able to feed the knowledge they gain back into the wider scholarly community through articles and conference papers. Lambeth Palace Library will benefit from increased knowledge and usage of its important collections, so furthering its aim of promoting the utilization of its holdings. Local communities will acquire better self-understanding. And the diocese will be able to root its approach both to pastoral provision and serving the people of London ina better appreciation of its own past success and failures in these endeavours.