 It expects to contribute to, and learn from, contemporary society in ways that are public, relevant and respectful.The society was founded in 1898 as the Churchmen's Union for the Advancement of Liberal Religious Thought as a society to defend the tolerant 'middle ground' within the Church of England.At the time both Evangelicalism and Anglo-Catholicism were becoming increasingly dogmatic in reaction against secular rationalism, which seemed a threat to religious belief.