| Summary: | “Church closures are a feature of modern times, occurring on an unprecedented scale, a momentous historical change. Yet few people have analysed this phenomenon. Denise Bonnette’s superb book is the exception: a most welcome and fascinating discussion of the reasons and processes of such closures, and what they mean to us today.” —K. D. M. Snell, University of Leicester, UK “This is a compelling book, post-Covid. It rediscovers the historic reasons for the current perilous state of the Church of England. From 1945, cultural changes were a catalyst for shrinking congregations, and crumbling buildings. The Anglican Church wanted to ‘care for all souls’ but this was an unviable spiritual mission, putting at risk a rich architectural history.” —Elizabeth Hurren, Chair in Modern History, University of Leicester, UK This book is a reappraisal of Anglican Church redundancy from a cultural perspective. It challenges long-held perceptions about the rationale for church redundancy, particularly secularisation. It argues that redundancy brought to the surface far-reaching social and cultural tensions that remain unresolved to this day, and which the pandemic closure of buildings has reignited. Denise Bonnette is an independent scholar who received her PhD from the University of Leicester, UK.
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