Christian devotion was everywhere, but everywhere was anchored to the unlovely doctrine of the Vicarious Atonement - the alleged self-offering of Christ to assuage the wrath or ransom-demand of a wronged and legalistic God.

Into this unwelcoming environment the tiny Church emerged, at first quietly, as Wedgwood toiled to consolidate it briefly in the UK before setting off for Australia to take up the undertaking earlier given by Charles Leadbeater, to help him in preparing a comprehensive liturgy, finding clergy-in-training and establishing congregations. The work proceeded well, with experimental services conducted privately, or with invited participants. The first Liturgy of the Holy Eucharist appeared in print during 1917, the other services being formulated rapidly thereafter. At intervals during the three years of liturgy compilation Wedgwood travelled overseas, visiting New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom, and parts of Europe, wherever possible ordaining suitable men and inaugurating congregations. Typically, these new congregations met in borrowed or rented buildings, often those of the local branch of The Theosophical Society. There was no apology on Wedgwood's part in doing this, as he saw the Liberal Catholic Church (so named in September 1918) as combining theosophical interpretations of Christianity with Catholic sacramentalism.

Moreover, both Wedgwood and Leadbeater were quite overt in selecting candidates for ordination from among men of good character known to have been studying the Wisdom Tradition, or Theosophy, in a systematic way for some years, and given to a meditative and somewhat ascetic lifestyle. Later, they reasoned, they would construct an appropriate course of study for candidates for ordination; in the meantime, the new churches had to be staffed.

Notwithstanding his heavy reliance on the members and resources of The Theosophical Society, Wedgwood was not building a church just for theosophists. From the beginning he saw the LCC as a haven for open-minded, liberally inclined Christians, no longer comfortable in mainstream churches. In time, he believed, these people would form the majority of Liberal Catholics.

The Founders may have preferred to launch their new venture quietly. They were not permitted to do so, for American antagonists of Leadbeater, on hearing of his taking up residence in Sydney, had already notified legal authorities there that a dangerous man had moved into their jurisdiction. There followed a prolonged, but intermittent police investigation along with lurid and derisive newspaper publicity. Eventually the police gave up looking for evidence that was not there to be found and the newspaper campaign faded away. Leadbeater survived it all with unruffled equanimity, but when the vilification followed Wedgwood back to the UK his reputation and health suffered so drastically that he felt compelled to resign as Presiding Bishop and to hand over to the much older Leadbeater. After some years spent in academic work -doctoral studies in the physics of sound applied to organ music- Wedgwood returned to vigorous and effective work for the church in the UK and Europe, but he declined Leadbeater's repeated invitation to resume as Presiding Bishop.

The two principal Founders of the LCC seem to me to have been men of extraordinary talent and vision, men prepared to undertake a great pioneering work utterly convinced that they did so under the benediction, and indeed, the direct guidance of the Lord Christ Himself. They brought great gifts to the work. Both were deeply spiritual and both were aware of the flow and concentration of spiritual power in the working of the sacramental services of the Church. This highly developed faculty enabled them to arrange the services in such a way as to maximise their potency as channels of grace. Wedgwood brought to bear a highly developed gift of language, as may readily be seen in a perusal of the liturgy, of which he was the principal author. While Leadbeater is said to have been a quiet, but powerful ceremonialist, testimonies available to us typify Wedgwood as a man of great personal charm and an electrifying celebrant - inspiring all those fortunate enough to be close to him. The foundations they laid are our precious heritage, perhaps to be adjusted marginally from time to time, as values and language change, but preserved in essence and substance for those who will follow us.

The Founding Bishops established a church whose vision was revolutionary for the first quarter of the last century and is still in many respects revolutionary at the start of this new century. They have left us a superb Liturgy, a simple but profound Statement of Principles and Summary of Doctrine, an extensive literature of commentary and interpretation and personal examples of dedication and self-sacrifice which we can all appreciate and as our capacity permits, seek to emulate. Above all, they have left us a Church for the centuries to come, expressive of their shared vision. At some risk of having the sublime sound matter-of-fact, I believe we can sum up the main features of that vision in this way:

The Founders saw the LCC as...