Elders in Every City

The Origin and Role of the Ordained Ministry

Roger Beckwith, Andrew Atherstone

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English

The Latimer Trust
18 September 2025

History of religion; Christianity; Anglican & Episcopalian Churches, Church of England; Christian leaders & leadership

In retirement, Beckwith published one of his most important and enduring books - Elders in Every City: The Origin and Role of the Ordained Ministry (2003) - dedicated to J. I. Packer, his 'mentor and friend'. This slim and highly accessible study, based on a series of addresses to the clergy of Blackburn diocese, shows how the ministry of presbyters and bishops evolved in the early church with roots in the teaching office of elders in the Jewish synagogue. In a letter of appreciation, Packer wrote from Regent College, Vancouver: 'From every standpoint it's a little gem: heartiest congratulations!' In his introduction to the volume, Beckwith exclaims: 'if the writer seems to be devoted to the Book of Common Prayer and its Ordinal, to the Thirty-Nine Articles and the writings of Cranmer and Hooker, that is because he is. He sees them as the finest expressions of Anglicanism - of historic Christianity as reformed by the word of God.' This brief mission statement encapsulated his priorities for the theological renewal of Anglicanism in the twenty-first century.

By: Roger Beckwith
Preface by: Andrew Atherstone
Imprint: The Latimer Trust
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 203mm, Width: 127mm, Spine: 9mm
Weight: 150g
ISBN: 9781916834132
ISBN 10: 1916834132
Pages: 146
Publication Date: 18 September 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Roger Beckwith (1929-2023) was one of the Church of England's leading evangelical thinkers. His many decades of theological industry on behalf of the Anglican evangelical cause are interwoven with the story of Latimer House, the forerunner of Latimer Trust whose motto is 'Biblical Truth for Today's Anglican Church'. An Oxford graduate, Beckwith had served his first curacy at St Peter's, Harold Wood, in east London, a parish with a long evangelical history, followed by four years as tutor at Tyndale Hall, Bristol, an evangelical theological college founded by the Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society. He later became Latimer House warden, and published many tracts and essays. Andrew Atherstone is Latimer Research Fellow, at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and a Professor at Oxford University's Faculty of Theology and Religion. He has published widely on contemporary Anglicanism.

Reviews for Elders in Every City: The Origin and Role of the Ordained Ministry

""A little gem!"" J I Packer ""Roger Beckwith's classic study of ministry in the early church has lost none of its relevance as we seek to adapt our structures for our own day. There are important lessons here for us all as we plot a way forward in equally challenging times."" Gerald Bray, Beeson Divinity School ""Elders in Every City repays careful and repeated reading. As a bishop, I am constantly struck by the unhelpful practices in much contemporary church polity. Roger Beckwith reminds us of the need to revisit the apostolic era and early church, and how Thomas Cranmer and his Reformation colleagues sought to return Anglicanism to a healthy practice. The republication of this book is very timely."" Andy Lines, Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Network in Europe