Bishops, Wives and Children : Spiritual Capital Across the Generations

Arguments for or against the decline of Christianity as a cultural force to be reckoned with have rarely taken into account the actual processes by which tradition is transmitted, modified, embraced or rejected over time. This book sheds new light on the significance of Christianity in late modern Britain through a study of the families of Christian leaders and the transmission of Christian values. Furnishing a picture of how values fostered in the clerical home are passed on to the next generation, shaping the way in which family, work, civic service and religion are lived out in adult life, this study facilitates a broader discussion of how, in our supposedly secular age, the Christian church exerts an indirect influence upon British culture - not just through its leaders - but through the lives and work of their children. Addressing the dual question of how religious leaders influence their children, and how their children influence society, the authors draw on new primary research into the experiences, beliefs and values of Anglican bishops, their wives and their adult offspring. Davies and Guest adopt qualitative methods to achieve a complex image of the clergyman as a professional whose role has been radically reshaped due to pressures from within the church and from secular society. In drawing in leaders whose influence on society has been radical and far-reaching, they present unique insights into how clergy achieve social power in an age incredulous to ecclesiastical hierarchy. "Bishops, Wives and Children" marks an important advance in the analysis of the social significance of Christian tradition and all it represents in wider British society. Contents......Page 6 List of Plates......Page 8 List of Tables......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 Method and Perspective......Page 15 Theoretical Approaches......Page 16 Generations and Value Transmission......Page 24 Cultural Context......Page 27 Liberal, Evangelical and Charismatic Shifts......Page 28 Family......Page 30 Visions of Episcopacy......Page 31 Case Study: School and College Influence......Page 36 Conclusion......Page 38 2 Bishop and Church: Changing Times and Institutions......Page 40 Residence, Work and Identity......Page 41 Cumulative Biographical Experience......Page 44 The ‘Vagueness’ Factor......Page 50 Emphases in Episcopal Ministry......Page 52 Case Study: Dream Change......Page 54 Case Study: Self-realization......Page 59 3 Changing Persons, Changing Roles......Page 62 Managerialism......Page 64 Directions and Dynamics......Page 68 New Pressures: Media and the Marginalization of Religion......Page 70 Ecumenical, Inter-faith and Political Dimensions......Page 76 Identity, Character and Spiritual Career......Page 78 Conclusion......Page 80 Wanting the Real Man......Page 82 The Appointment of Bishops......Page 84 Diocesan–Suffragan Paradoxical Dissonance......Page 86 Episcopal Career Development......Page 89 Institution and Humility......Page 91 The Call: From Personal Piety to Structured Obedience......Page 94 Institution, Ambition and Fear......Page 96 Conclusion: Gift-motifs and Episcopacy......Page 99 5 The Place of Clergy Wives: A ‘Shared Ministry’?......Page 102 Clergy Wives: Image and Reality......Page 103 From Clergy Wives to Bishops’ Wives......Page 105 Mapping Patterns of Vocation and Identity......Page 107 Conclusion: Bishops’ Wives and Spiritual Capital......Page 116 6 Growing Up Clerical......Page 120 The Ideological Household......Page 123 The Home as Public Space......Page 128 Exposure and the Public Gaze......Page 131 Inflated Expectations......Page 133 The Episcopal Factor......Page 136 Religious Identity: Statistical Patterns......Page 138 Accessing the Spiritual Journey......Page 142 Case Study: Stephen’s Spiritual Journey......Page 143 Making Sense of the Spiritual Journey......Page 144 Liberal Christianity – An Ambiguous Resource......Page 146 Family, Order and Identity......Page 152 The Quest for Autonomy......Page 156 The Working Lives of Clergy Children: Statistical Patterns......Page 160 The Appeal of Occupations......Page 164 Recalled Exemplars: Altruism......Page 165 Public Service......Page 168 Counter-cultural Ethics......Page 172 Work as a Spiritual Pursuit......Page 173 9 Conclusion......Page 180 Family and Church......Page 182 Family and Capital......Page 186 The Bishop as a Site of Cultural Intensification......Page 190 Vagueness and the Perpetuation of Tradition......Page 191 The Survey......Page 194 The Interviews......Page 195 Bibliography......Page 198 B......Page 210 C......Page 211 D......Page 212 G......Page 213 I......Page 214 L......Page 215 O......Page 216 R......Page 217 S......Page 218 T......Page 219 Y......Page 220 Christianity as a cultural force, whether rising or falling, has seldom been analysed through the actual processes by which tradition is transmitted, modified, embraced or rejected. This book achieves that end through a study of bishops of the Church of England, their wives and their children, to show how values fostered in the vicarage and palace shape family, work and civic life in a supposedly secular age. Davies and Guest integrate, for the first time, sociological concepts of spiritual capital with anthropological ideas of gift-theory and, alongside theological themes, use these to illuminate how the religious professional functions in mediating tradition and fostering change. Motifs of distant prelates, managerially-minded fathers in God and rebellious clergy children are reconsidered in a critical light as new empirical evidence offers unique insights into how the clergy family functions as an axis of social power in an age incredulous to ecclesiastical hierarchy. Bishops, Wives and Children marks an important advance in the analysis of the spirituality of Catholic, Evangelical and Liberal leaders and their social significance within a distinctive Christian tradition and all it represents in wider British society. Christianity as a cultural force, whether rising or falling, has seldom been analyzed through the actual processes by which tradition is transmitted, modified, embraced or rejected. This book achieves that end through a study of bishops of the Church of England, their wives and their children, to show how values fostered in the vicarage and palace shape family, work and civic life in a supposedly secular age Religious leadership in a changing society Bishop and church : changing times and institutions Changing persons, changing roles Suffragan and diocesan bishops The place of clergy wives : a 'shared ministry'? Growing up clerical Clergy children and religious identity Clergy children, work and professional identity Conclusions. "Bishops, Wives and Children is an analysis of the spirituality of Catholic, Evangelical and Liberal leaders and their social significance within a distinctive Christian tradition and all it represents in wider British society."--Jacket