RELIGIONS IN BRITAIN Lecture 5

Democracy, multiculturalism and traditionalism of British society have determined the situation with religion in the country:  There is a great variety of religions, confessions and sects  Religion is separated from politics  The monarch cannot be a Catholic  26 senior bishops in the Church of England are all members of the House of Lords  The government has the right to veto the choice of bishops  There is religious instruction in schools

Established Churches  Nowhere in Europe but in Britain  National churches  Official religions of the country by law  The Church of England (Anglican Church)  The Presbyterian Church of Scotland

The Church of England (The Anglican Church)  Established in 1534  The Head of the Church is an English Monarch. The monarch appoints archbishops and bishops  Episcopalian Church  The Religious leaders: Archbishop of Canterbury (the seat is Lambeth Palace in London) and Archbishop of York  24 senior bishops  18 remaining bishops

The structure of the Anglican Church  Each bishop is in charge of a district called diocese  Each diocese has a cathedral  Each diocese is divided into parishes  Each parish is in the care of a vicar

Two branches of the Church:  High Church – similar to Catholic in terms of the ritual, the decoration of the church, the robes of priests, the ceremonies and processions  Low Church – often called evangelical. Strictly and consciously opposed to Catholicism. The content of the Bible is only important, the rest is of no value.

Women in the Church  Priests in the Church of England are allowed to be married  In 1987 women were ordained (allowed to become priests)

Presbyterian Church of Scotland  Completely separate from the Anglican Church  Has its own organisation and appoints its own ministers. It has no bishops  Is a severe form of Protestantism founded in the 16 th century  Based on the teaching of the great French reformer Calvin  Established by John Knox, a Roman Catholic priest, converted to Protestantism

Wales  Has no established church  The Anglican Church was disestablished in 1914  There is a church of Welsh origin called both “Calvinistic Methodist” and “Presbyterian Church of Wales”

Other conventional Christian churches  Catholicism  Free churches – non-conformists (Puritans, Calvinists, those who didn’t accept the authority of the Anglican church): - Baptists – strict interpretation of the Bible - Baptists – strict interpretation of the Bible - Quakers (the Society of Friends) – lack of clergy and pacifism - Quakers (the Society of Friends) – lack of clergy and pacifism  Evangelical churches and sects. Pentecostal church – emphasis on the spiritual and miraculous

Non-Christian religions  Islam (Muslims are the most numerous immigrants): More than 1000 mosques in Britain  Judaism. The second largest Jewish community in Europe is in Britain  New Age religions - Theosophy - Buddism - Druidism - Christian Scientism