Church Society is a conservative, evangelical Anglican organisation and registered charity formed in 1950 by the merger of the Anglican Church Association (founded 1865) and National Church League (founded 1906 by amalgamation of two earlier bodies). In May 2018, Church Society merged with two other evangelical Anglican organisations, Reform and the Fellowship of Word and Spirit to provide a united voice for conservative evangelicals within the Church of England. The journal of Church Society is Global Anglican, formerly Churchman (established 1879). Editors have included Henry Wace, Philip Edgecumbe Hughes and Gerald Bray. The current editor is Peter Jensen. Anglicans associated with the society include J. C. Ryle, J. T. Tomlinson, W. H. Griffith-Thomas, Henry Wace, William Joynson-Hicks (Home Secretary), Geoffrey Bromiley, Philip Edgecumbe Hughes, J. I. Packer, Alan Stibbs, John Stott, Alec Motyer, Wallace Benn, and Rod Thomas. History and predecessors The original forebear of the Church Society was the Protestant Association (founded 1835). The forebears of the society were established in the 19th century to oppose the introduction of Anglo-Catholic doctrine into the Church of England through bodies such as the Oxford Movement and The Church Union. The Church Association, founded in 1865 by Richard P. Blakeney stated in its first annual report that the objectives of the Association were: As well as publishing information (including its Church Association Tracts) and holding public meetings, controversially, this also involved instigating legal action against Anglo-Catholics. According to the Association this was intended to clarify the law. However, the ritualists refusal to comply with the courts' verdicts, coupled with the bishops' unwillingness to act, eventually led to such legal action not being pursued. In 1928 the National Church League, led by its treasurer William Joynson-Hicks, was successful in Parliament in resisting what were seen as attempted Anglo-Catholic doctrinal changes in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. The society (and its forebears) have published theological literature since the 19th century, including the Church Association Tracts (several of which were written by J. C. Ryle), and its journal, Churchman. Most of the society's 20th-century titles, including works by W. H. Griffith Thomas, (pictured right) were produced under its publishing arm, Church Book Room Press (CBRP), and from 1976, Vine Books Ltd. In 1950 the Church Association and the National Church League merged to form Church Society. At the AGM in 2018 a new Council was elected to include leaders from Reform and the Fellowship