Marks the centenary of the Church in Wales and critically assesses landmarks in its evolution.

The post-Norman ecclesiastical and political transformation of south-east Wales, recorded in early C12 manuscript.

The five-volume Oxford History of Dissenting Protestant Traditions series is governed by a motif of migration ('out-of-England'). It first traces organized church traditions that arose in England as Dissenters distanced themselves from a state church defined by diocesan episcopacy, the Book of Common Prayer, the Thirty-Nine Articles, and royal supremacy, but then follows those traditions as they spread beyond England -and also traces newer traditions that emerged downstream in other parts of the world from earlier forms of Dissent. Secondly, it does the same for the doctrines, church practices, stances toward state and society, attitudes toward Scripture, and characteristic patterns of organization that also originated in earlier English Dissent, but that have often defined a trajectory of influence independent ecclesiastical organizations. The Oxford History of Protestant Dissenting Traditions, Volume III considers the Dissenting traditions of the United Kingdom, the British Empire, and the United States in the nineteenth century. It provides an overview of the historiography on Dissent while making the case for seeing Dissenters in different Anglophone connections as interconnected and conscious of their genealogical connections. The nineteenth century saw the creation of a vast Anglo-world which also brought Anglophone Dissent to its apogee. Featuring contributions from a team of leading scholars, the volume illustrates that in most parts of the world the later nineteenth century was marked by a growing enthusiasm for the moral and educational activism of the state which plays against the idea of Dissent as a static, purely negative identity. This collection shows that Dissent was a political and constitutional identity, which was often only strong where a dominant Church of England existed to dissent against.

The Church in Wales: The Sociology of a Traditional Institution breaks new ground by providing for the first time a description and analysis of the territorial organization of a church and by demonstrating the way in which the resulting distribution of resources serves to reinforce the traditional emphasis on maintenance rather than mission. The study also offers a wide-ranging review of the beliefs and activities of members of the Church, both clerical and lay, and of the limitations and restrictions which entrenched attitudes impose on the utilization of their commitment and talents. It also considers the problems which a post-modern and secular culture poses for religious belief and witness, and assesses the difficulty of effecting change within a traditional organization. In this lucidly written book, Christopher Harris and Richard Startup present a rounded view of a major church which will be of interest not only to specialists but to all who seek to understand the changing nature of organized religion within contemporary society.