Stephenson had invented the four foot eight and a half inch inches gauge as the standard for his railway, everybody had copied him. Well, more or less. Russia stuck to a broad gauge. Welsh farmers found narrow-gauge more suited to their terrain. This was not a matter like the division of the Spanish and Portuguese empires that could have an issue settled by the Pope. Independent nation-states went their own way. The expansion of the British empire dragged other things along with it.
Nobody quite knows why this measurement should have magic quality. It came into being because there had to be a winner but nobody knows how or why. The fact that England was in the forefront of the industrial revolution and built railways for the rest of the world may have something to do with it. The choice of alternating current rather than direct current was more rational. It was cheaper to was cheaper to carry power over long distances.
There was an Englishing programme in churches. It just happened. One factor was the English language. It flourished in India from 1833 as a common language for a diverse population. There were clear benefits. This continues to be the case in a variety of countries. The other, the Book of Common Prayer, was once seen as a unifying factor in English-speaking nations. that in some way espoused Christianity. That is no longer the case. Excellent though the prayer book may be, it cannot sustain the weight of a culture that is in process of rejecting its history. Englishing began taking place in such matters as the vernacular, as opposed to Latin, in the rights of the Crown and parliament. Independent nation-states went their own way. British colonies adopted the same pattern. The prayer book provided a model of what English Christianity could be. When, thanks to Columba, Aidan and Augustine, the Englishing of the new faith began to take place, it ws in the context of a European structure of western half of the Roman empire. As the centuries went by Englishing showed itself in vernacular, in institutions like parliament and in an independent nation-state. It reproduced itself along with the British empire. It was no longer limited to a small island territory.
Englishing is no longer a welcome aspect of the faith as far as much of the UK population is concerned. A secondary or lower place is often where the C of E is to be found among the websites. The Roman Catholic form of the faith has the continuity and supra national quality that characterise a worldwide movement. So do the informal churches at the other end of the spectrum, protestant and charismatic of one kind or another.
A new word was found to have its uses. English worshippers (or some of them) became accustomed to being labelled as ‘Anglican’. They did not take to the term. Nor did people much prefer the term ‘Episcopalian’. The word ‘English’ continued to have a bit of a shine about it.
Englishing has run its course. Its high watermark was the era when the Book of Common Prayer was a worldwide inspiration. We now look to a future where quality will determine choices of language and label.
If you have a comment on this post please send an email to Revd John King at johnc.king@talktalk.net Edited extracts may be published. To forward this to a friend click on the chain icon below.
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