Church & Chapel

For the first time since St. Augustine, the high and mighty Church of England last week showed signs of accepting the other churches in England as equals and joining with them to create a British Council of Churches like the Federal Council of Churches in America. This will be formed by merging the Council on Christian Faith and Common Life, now headed by the retiring Archbishop of Canterbury, and the interdenominational Commission for International Friendship and Social Responsibility, headed by the now ascendant Archbishop of York. The Anglican Council met last week and approved the merger. The other denominations have favored such a plan for years.

When the two groups begin speaking with one voice, most Englishmen expect to recognize the voice of York and his commission, which is best known for the way it outMalverned Malvern in its far-to-the-left program for the post-war reconstruction of England (TIME, Jan. 5). The united voice will first be heard at the end of April in a document on The Church and International Order.

Contrary to general belief, only a small part of the 36,000,000 British adults belong to the Church of England, whose membership is only 2,294,000. This is not much more than England's 2,200,000 Roman Catholics, or the 1.938,700 Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists and others whom the Anglicans lump under the heading of "Nonconformists." Attendance at Church of England service is known as "going to church." Attendance at any other Protestant service is known as "going to chapel." In the U.S., the Federal Council of Churches was formed in 1908, but the Episcopal Church (affiliate of the Church of England) held out against accepting full membership until 1940.

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