ABSTRACT
Some people in the Church of England, believing that the parochial system was an unwieldy means of reaching the masses, envied Nonconformists the fellowship built into their polity by such devices as congregational meetings and the election of members to offices of real responsibility. Yet Nonconformists, aware of their own deficiency as evangelists, could look towards the Church of England with envy. A conference of Nonconformists recommended ‘the adoption, by the Nonconformist churches of Bradford, of a parochial system. . . .’ 203 Some Nonconformists wished that Dissent allowed for the employment of curates, and others were convinced that their ministry to the poor was hampered by the principle of congregational autonomy. Methodists believed themselves hindered by the circuit system and the principle of itinerancy, which John Wesley had bequeathed to them. There was, in short, a tendency to see the peculiarities of one's own organization as impediments and those of others as advantages. As fishers of men in Victorian England, each body of Christians was sailing in a vessel designed for calmer waters; and to each the sea seemed roughest under its own boat.
