Philip Williamson p.a.williamson@durham.ac.uk
Emeritus Professor
National days of prayer: the churches, the state and public worship in Britain 1899-1957
Williamson, Philip
Authors
Abstract
A terrible war had been followed by a harsh winter: trade was poor, money was scarce, and food, fuel and other essentials were in short supply. Extraordinary measures seemed necessary, so the king on the advice of his archbishop and chief minister summoned his people to observe a day of prayer to Almighty God. In every community in the kingdom large congregations attended special religious services, and in London the king and queen joined other leaders of the realm in worship at St Paul’s Cathedral. This was not an episode in medieval or early modern times. The king was George VI, the year was 1947 and the chief minister was Clement Attlee, whose government is more frequently associated with entirely secular solutions to the nation’s difficulties. God has not, so far, featured in histories of Labour governments. Nor have other national days of prayer in early twentieth-century Britain received more than incidental historical comments, even in studies of religion and the churches. As exceptional events, arranged in times of unusual strain or celebration, they have seemed tangential to investigation of longer term trends and have fallen between the concerns of different historical specialisms. Yet national days of prayer were considerable public occasions, with a significance and influence well beyond their infrequent occurrence. An understanding of these occasions of special worship explains much about the place of the churches and religion in public life in modern Britain.
Citation
Williamson, P. (2013). National days of prayer: the churches, the state and public worship in Britain 1899-1957. The English Historical Review, 128(531), 324-366. https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/ces182
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Publication Date | Apr 1, 2013 |
Deposit Date | Mar 13, 2012 |
Publicly Available Date | Apr 2, 2013 |
Journal | English Historical Review |
Print ISSN | 0013-8266 |
Electronic ISSN | 1477-4534 |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 128 |
Issue | 531 |
Pages | 324-366 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/ces182 |
Public URL | https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1479942 |
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Copyright Statement
This is a pre-copy-editing author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in English historical review following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Williamson, Philip (2013) 'National days of prayer : the churches, the state and public worship in Britain 1899-1957.', English historical review., 128 (531). pp. 324-366 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/ces182
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