This article considers Hensley Henson’s advocacy of disestablishment following the Prayer Book defeat of 1927–8 as more than a rash reaction to events, one that he continued to work out well into the 1930s in response to domestic and international challenges to the Church, in addition to initiatives within the Church itself. Using his extensive journal and correspondence, as well as his published writings, it seeks an enhanced understanding not only of his views regarding ‘spiritual independence’ but of the wider debate in the Church – both among clergy and laity – and Free Churches, of which they were an integral part.
Julia Stapleton (Tue,) studied this question.