{{Short description|English evangelical Anglican organisation}} thumb|upright=1.35|Church Association "Protestant Van" from a postcard dated March 1907 The '''Church Association''' was an English evangelical Anglican organisation founded in 1865. It was particularly active in opposition to Anglo-Catholicism, ritualism, and the Oxford Movement. Founded in 1865 by Richard P. Blakeney, the association stated in its first annual report that the objectives of the association were, "To uphold the principles and order of the United Church of England and Ireland, and to counteract the efforts now being made to assimilate her services to those of the Church of Rome."<ref>[http://www.churchsociety.org/aboutus/History/ChurchAssociation.asp "Church Association Report"]</ref><ref>[http://www.churchsociety.org/aboutus/History/ChurchAssociationHobson.asp Richard Hobson of Liverpool's account of the founding of the Church Association]</ref>
==Litigation== As well as publishing information (including its ''Church Association Tracts''<ref>[https://www.churchsociety.org/resource/church-association-tracts/ "Church Association Tracts"]</ref>) and holding public meetings,<ref>[http://www.churchsociety.org/publications/documents/CAT061_RyleAction.pdf J. C. Ryle Church Association address]</ref> controversially, this{{Clarify|date=November 2025}} also involved instigating legal action against Anglo-Catholics under the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874; for instance, legal action was taken against Sidney Faithorn Green and Richard William Enraght. According to the association this was intended to clarify the law;<ref>J. C. Whisenant, ''A Fragile Unity - Anti-Ritualism and the Division of Anglican Evangelicalism in the Nineteenth Century'' (Paternoster Press, 2003) p8</ref><ref>[https://www.churchsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/c_a_tract_259.pdf ''Church Association Tract'' 259, p3]</ref> however, the ritualists refusal to comply with court verdicts, coupled with the bishops{{Clarify|reason=Should this be "bishop's" or "bishops'"? Which bishops is it referring to?|date=November 2025}} unwillingness to act eventually led to such legal action not being pursued.<ref>J. C. Whisenant, ''A Fragile Unity - Anti-Ritualism and the Division of Anglican Evangelicalism in the Nineteenth Century'' (Paternoster Press, 2003) p8</ref>
==Active members== Reverend Thomas Henry Sparshott was organising secretary of the Church Association between 1881 and {{circa|1899}}, and deputation secretary from 1893.<ref name="Halifax Evening Courier 15 January 1927" >{{cite news |title=Rev. T.H. Sparshott |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003295/19270115/142/0006 |access-date=8 August 2023 |work=Halifax Evening Courier |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=15 January 1927 |page=6 col.4}}</ref><ref name="Crockfords 1898" >{{cite book |title=Crockford's Clerical Directories: Sparshott, Thomas Henry |date=1898 |publisher=Horace Cox |location=London |page=1269/1407 |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/1548/images/GB1399-01406?ssrc=&backlabel=Return&pId=9286 |access-date=8 August 2023}}</ref> He preached and lectured at various venues in England.<ref name="H & SLO 15 January 1927" >{{cite news |title=Clergyman's death |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000293/19270115/271/0013 |access-date=8 August 2023 |work=Hastings and St Leonards Observer |agency=|via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |date=15 January 1927 |page=13 col.4}}</ref>
==Merger and Church Society== In 1950, the association merged with the National Church League to form the Church Society.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.churchsociety.org/resource/church-association-tracts/ Church Association Tracts] *''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100827095117/http://www.churchsociety.org/publications/tracts/CAT004_RyleRitualism.pdf The Teaching of the Ritualists not the Teaching of the Church of England]'', Church Association Tract 4, John Charles Ryle
Category:Anglican organizations Category:History of the Church of England Category:Religious organizations established in 1865
{{Anglican-stub}}