Faith Schools

Church Schools and the Free Churches
Until the end of the nineteenth century many Free Church denominations had denominational schools in both the maintained and independent sectors in England and Wales. Though many independent schools with Free Church foundations remain, all except the Methodist Church surrendered their maintained schools to LEAs after the 1902 Education Act introduced free, compulsory Christian education for all. Since the beginning of the new Millennium, increased interest from congregations working in local partnerships with Methodists, Anglicans and Catholics, combined with a national strategy for building more schools of a religious character, has led to some rethinking on this issue. (See also Community Schools and the Free Churches)

At the beginning of 2002 there were fewer than sixty schools with a religious character in the maintained sector that had a Free Church promoter. Apart from one that retained some links with the United Reformed Church, all the others were Methodist (27) or jointly promoted by the Methodist Church and the Church of England (30). These joint promotions were of two kinds. The majority were post-1960 amalgamations of separate, small schools, mostly serving rural villages, but a small number were recent foundations. From 1985 onwards, as Local Ecumenical Partnerships were set up in new housing developments, jointly-promoted schools, often housing a new church plant, became attractive. Many included community provision as well.

This trend was accelerated after the publication of The Way Ahead, a report from the Church of England General Synod, which advocated an increased number of Church of England secondary schools. Published in 2001, the report was intended to capitalise on the public support for schools of a religious character articulated by the Government of the day, their increasing popularity with parents, and the new, more flexible arrangements for the promotion and governance of schools to be introduced in the 2002 Education Act, at a time when many pupils in Church of England primary schools did not have a CE secondary school to transfer to.

Church of England Dioceses, looking to forward the principles of The Way Ahead in a difficult financial climate, increasingly turned to the Methodist Church and others in Local Ecumenical or Churches Together Partnerships for assistance. These overtures have been surprisingly well received, and Free Church denominations other than the Methodist Church have been forced into revising their attitude to the promotion of schools with a religious character under pressure from individual congregations. Occasionally, it has been the LEP or Churches Together Group that have initiated the discussion. In at least one case a Roman Catholic Diocese has shared in the exploratory discussions.

Currently (April 2003) inter-denominational proposals are at various stages of discussion in more than ten places in England, with the likelihood that the projected new house-building, particularly in the south-east and East Anglia, will continue the pattern for some years to come.

In the independent sector, a significant number of schools have foundations solely or jointly of Free Church denominational character. Most are of eighteenth and (especially) nineteenth century origin, though there is an increasing number of new establishments by black-majority churches.

A further development since 2000 has been the acceptance into the maintained sector of a few schools with a religious character promoted by smaller Christian denominations, and others of non-Christian traditions, in addition to the twenty-seven Jewish schools of longer standing. Most have transferred from the independent sector, and a growing number of others are taking active steps on the same road. The Free Church Education Unit, in partnership with the Methodist Church, the Church of England and the Catholic Church, have welcomed this trend and offered active support for these new partners in the maintained sector.

An enthusiastic group of inter-faith religious leaders saw their proposals for a multi-faith Voluntary Aided school in London fail in the face of local indifference, but there are strong signs that, in areas where inter-faith relationships are strong at grass-roots level, this dream will become a reality within the space of a few years.