ABSTRACT
From the Glorious Revolution until the mid-nineteenth century, the remnants of legal ecclesiastical discipline over the faith and morality of the laity declined until abolition, leaving an assumption that it was no longer the place of the Church to regulate the lives of its members in a decisive manner. It is clear that since the so-called Council of Jerusalem the Christian church has wrestled with the problems of defining its membership and rules. The corporate life of the Church of England affords more than adequate safeguard against the seemingly feared collapse of meaning which the Hawker report and others appear to display. The Church of England maintains its unity in spite of the differences, and because we do not agree to disagree. in 2017 the Church of England continues to wrestle with controversy and the spirit of persecution remains alive in some quarters, the greatest fears of most are not about internal strife but declining numbers and public irrelevance.
