A clash of churchmanship? : Robert Gray and the Evangelical Anglicans, 1847–1872

Abstract

This study investigates the initial causes of Anglican division in South Africa in order to assess whether the three Evangelical parishes in the Cape Peninsula were justified in declining to join the Church of the Province of South Africa when it was formally constituted as a voluntary association in January 1870. The research covered the following: * Background to the period in England and at the Cape, based on the histories pertinent to the period; * An assessment of the differences in churchmanship between the Evangelicals and the Anglo–Catholics, through study of the applicable literature; * A critical assessment of the character, churchmanship, aims, and actions of the first bishop of Cape Town, Robert Gray, drawn from the two–volume biography of his life, his journals and documents obtained in the archives; * An analysis of the disputes between Bishop Gray and two Evangelical clergymen, analyzed from the published correspondence and archive material. The conclusion of the study is that the differences in churchmanship between the Evangelicals and the Anglo Catholics were very substantial and when coupled with the character, aims and actions of Bishop Gray, left the Evangelicals with little option but to decline the invitation to join his voluntary association.