Towards The Conversion of England

In 1943, at the request of the church assembly, the then archbishop of Canterbury ([[William Temple]]*) set up a commission of nearly fifty people under the chairmanship of the bishop of Rochester to “. . . survey the whole problem of modern evangelism. . . .” This report, entitled Towards the Conversion of England, was published in 1945. The report considered the Gospel itself, the need for laity to be fully involved in evangelism, the different needs of town and country, young and old, and the new opportunities in the postwar situation. The report, which had many practical suggestions, was widely acclaimed* (it was reprinted eight times in the first eight months), but never had any substantial effect. A recent writer, Roger Lloyd, has described it as a “damp squib.”