Anglican church is exactly the same as the Church of England. (Anglican means English).
Never heard of the "Free Church of England" before but googling shows it is a movement by people who wanted a more evangelical (branching out) church and more info here
Reading what they do and don't believe in- 'holding membership in Masonic Lodges was decided that such membership was incompatible with the Christian faith'. Would this mean that someone would change their faith so that they could still be a freemason do you think?
When I say change faith (don't know how else to describe it) I mean from Church Of England to Roman Catholic?
Well I suppose if your allegiance to the Freemasons was stronger than your religious allegiance to a particular branch of Christianity, then yes you might. But you could also change for religious reasons.
Roman Catholics believe even less in membership of Freemasonry than do Anglicans!
The Free Church of England is a very "low" church and I wouldn't immediately connect a conversion from Catholicism to it, or the other way around.
My great grandfather was quite high up in the Freemasons and although he was baptised in the C of E, as an adult he was a Wesleyan. The Wesleyans didn't think much of Freemasonry either but it didn't stop him.
Well one of my OH's family was a freemason although his dad cannot remember whether it was his dad or his grandad. My OH's g. grandad was married in a 'free church of england' and they don't believe in free masonary, my father in law was Roman Catholic so his father or his grandad was Roman Catholic wondering if one of them 'changed' so they could be a free mason and also a member of the church which allowed free masonary. Sorry if its a muddle I am getting a bit tired now!
on the same lines do you know who i could contact to see if the freemasons hold records and if there are any searches i could do to try and find who was the freemason in OH's family?
Maybe father-in-law's mother was Roman Catholic and he was brought up in her faith?
I'm not sure anyone has terribly strong principles about such things. Methodists are supposed to be anti-alcohol but all the ones I know drink. My Catholic friends all use non-papally endorsed birth control. Many people just worship in a specific church because they like the priest, or the congregation, or its easy to get to, or out of habit.
Churchgoing all round has been declining since the end of the 19th century. Because someone marries, or is baptised into, or is buried according to specific rites, doesn't mean they follow every precept of that religion.
thanks everyone! My OH's family are/were quite big churchgoers so I thought maybe that would give some reason, however I know some of them are like your examples Nell so I think I will leave it at that. I am interested in the freemasons though so will give it a go.
Google "Freemasons" and you should find a site. Records are not searchable on line but they will search for you.
My great grandfather's obituary stated that he was a Grand Master and gave the name of his Lodge and his number too.
I would imagine that marriage in a non-RC church was more to do with the wife's religion than with any desire to become a Freemason. Although the RC church bans Freemasonry, there are and always have been Roman Catholic members of Freemasonry, just as there are members from the Anglican Church.
What do these churches have against the Freemasons? Looking at the web-site it appears to be a charitable organisation whose members follow whatever religion they wish.
Freemasonry is viewed with suspicion by all religions because of the secret rituals involved, which are believed to be religious, and are certainly bizarre if you don't know the reasons behind them.
Well, they sort of ARE religious...they believe in the Great Architect.
Organised religion hates and fears any rivals and much nonsense has been talked about Freemasonry by them, attributing all kinds of evil practices and false claims to them.
There may indeed be something weird going on right at the top of Freemasonry, but at a lower level it is definitely ONLY a charitable and mutual help organisation.
(Incidentally, the RC church has its own form of Freemasonry, called, I think, P4? There are some very strange stories associated with that organisation)
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