Society of King Charles The Martyr - The Society

The Society

Founded in 1894, the Society's stated purpose was "intercessory prayer for the defence of the Church of England against the attacks of her enemies." Since then, the objectives have extended to religious devotion in keeping with the traditions of Anglo-Catholicism.

Today, the Society's stated objectives are the following:

• Intercessory prayer for the Church of England and Churches in communion therewith.
• Promotion of a wider and better observance of the Feastday of St Charles, 30 January.
• Work for the reinstatement of the Feast of St Charles in the calendar of The Prayer Book from which it was removed in 1859 without the due consent of the Church as expressed in Convocation; the Feast was restored to the calendar in the Alternative Service Book of 1980 and a new *collect composed for Common Worship in 2000. *This collect does not appear in the official Common Worship as published by Church House Publishing, the official publisher of Church of England liturgy. Charles I is however included in the list of holy days on page 5 of the Calendar.
• The propagation of the true knowledge about the life and times of S. Charles, and winning general recognition of the great debt the Church of England owes to him for his faithfulness unto death in defence of the Church and Her apostolic ministry.
• The support of efforts to build and equip churches dedicated under the patronage of S.Charles the Martyr (both at home and overseas).

The Patrons of the Society are Lord Nicholas Windsor; the Rt Hon Lord St John of Fawsley; the Rev'd. Fr. J. M. Charles-Roux, I.C.; Sir Leslie Fielding, KCMG; and Rev'd Canon Arthur Middleton.

Outside of England, the objectives vary slightly, especially in regard to the Feast of St Charles, which is widely observed by the church in some places and not in others.

In the United States and Canada, the Society is independently constituted as the American Region. The Society's activities in the United States can be traced back to 1895, within a year of the Society's foundation in 1894 in London. The American Region is incorporated under the General Laws of the State of Maryland as a not-for-profit corporation, the "Society of King Charles the Martyr, Inc.", and is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code, both effective as of 8 April 2008. The American Region is governed by a Board of Trustees, and holds a Solemn Mass of the Feast of St Charles Martyr on a Saturday close to January 30. In addition, the American Region confers an honor on some members through membership in the Order of Blessed William Laud.