ABSTRACT
The fifth chapter reassesses the historiography of the Labour Church which has asserted that the movement was all but finished by 1914. The chapter traces the revival of the Labour Church in the years following the First World War in Canada where is spread as expression of the Social Gospel, and across the English city of Birmingham. There are also ‘lingering echoes’ of the movement which can be heard throughout the 1930s and into the 1950s with congregations bearing the name of the Labour Church surviving in communities around the Black Country and in Manchester. As late as the early 2000s, a congregation was founded in Indianapolis, United States and an organisation formed in Auckland, New Zealand under the Labour Church banner. The chapter both brings into question the commonly held accepted belief about the lifespan of the movement, asks about its lasting appeal in particular contexts, and reflects on the challenging histories of the Labour Church in terms of revivalism.
