The UK is one of the last western democracies with a state religion: the Church of England.
The Church's entanglement with the state is bad for both.
Join our campaign to disestablish the Church.
CAMPAIGN ALERT: Support the disestablishment bill
In November 2023, a private member's bill to disestablish the Church of England was selected in the ballot.
Please write to your MP and urge them to support this bill, to make the UK are more equitable and democratic country for people of all religions and beliefs.
Since our founding in 1866, one of our primary objectives has been disestablishment of the Church of England: its formal separation from the state.
More than 150 years later, census figures show most people in England and Wales are not Christian. Surveys consistently reveal a similar picture in Scotland. The case for disestablishment has never been stronger.
Disestablishment means the Church would no longer have privileged input into government - but also that government could not involve itself in the running of the Church. Both sides would gain autonomy. This is why support for Church-state separation can be found within the CofE itself.
There have been many proponents, religious and non-religious, for church-state separation, and there are a wide variety of motivations for supporting this reform.
The existence of a legally-enshrined national religion privileges one part of the population, one institution and one set of beliefs. Removing all symbolic and institutional ties between government and religion is the only way to ensure equal treatment to citizens of all religions and none.
The Church of England has enjoyed significant privileges relating its established status for many centuries. These privileges have remained largely unchanged despite the massive and continuing reduction in support for the Church in the UK. It is highly likely that this trend will continue for the foreseeable future, making the Church of England's continuation as the established church unsustainable.
- Christians are a minority in Britain. In Wales and Scotland the majority have no religion.
- Just 1% of 18-24 year olds say they belong to the Church of England.
- Less than 1% of the population regularly attend Church of England church services.
The Church of England is also out of step with the UK public on several key issues: it remains opposed to same-sex relationships and allows parishes to reject women as bishops and priests. These discriminatory positions cannot be reconciled with the Church's status as part of the UK state.
And no institution with the shameful historical record of the Church of England safeguarding and abuse should retain its privileged role in the British establishment.
The existence of a legally enshrined national religion privileges one part of the population, one institution and one set of beliefs. Removing all symbolic and institutional ties between government and religion is the only way to ensure equal treatment of citizens of all religions and none.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Ask your MP to support the separation of church and state
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Lords Reform Bill fails to remove religious privilege
Posted: Wed, 27 Jun 2012 14:10
Church of England Bishops will retain reserved seats in the House of Lords according to proposals published today by the Deputy Prime Minister.
There are currently guaranteed places for 26 Church of England bishops in the House of Lords, including both Archbishops and the most senior diocesan bishops.
Under new proposals the number of bishops will eventually be cut to 12. However, in an upper chamber slimmed down from 800 peers to 450 'senators', the status quo is largely maintained.
The eventual composition of the reformed House of Lords will be 360 elected members, 90 appointed members and up to 12 Lords Spiritual. This will only be achieved after two transitional periods of five years during which time there will be a phased reduction of bishops from 21 to 16 to 12. Existing peers will be 'phased' out as elected members are brought in.
Under the proposals, the Church is given new powers to decide which bishops sit in the Lords. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester will become members of the House of Lords by reason of holding a named office. In addition, the Church of England will be able to select seven bishops who do not hold a named office as 'ordinary Lords Spiritual'. At present the places on the bishops' bench are occupied by those English diocesan bishops that have served the longest.
On the same day as the Bill was published, a new YouGov Survey revealed 56% of people want the seats reserved for bishops to be abolished. Just 28% were in favour of retaining them.
Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said: "Any proposal with reserved seats for religious leaders is both unfair and undemocratic. Serious proposals to reform the Lords must address the unjustified privilege of the bishops' bench.
"The retention of the Bishops is a missed opportunity and an act of political cowardice. With the Church given new powers to decide which bishops will sit in the chamber, the proposals are likely to increase the influence of the Church in Parliament by creating a new and unaccountable voting bloc of professional religious lobbyists: this is regression, not modernisation".
"We will be lobbying to encourage amendments to get rid of the bishops' bench once and for all."
In a statement from Ed Miliband today he said there are "big questions to resolve" about whether there is a place for bishops.
The Bill is expected to receive a second reading in the House of Commons before MPs rise for the summer recess on 17 July.
Equal marriage: Church’s submission “erroneous”, says lawyer
Posted: Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:07
The Church of England's failure to distinguish between social, religious and legal institutions of marriage "confuses the issues" according to a legal opinion obtained by the National Secular Society about the Church's controversial response to the Government's consultation on equal marriage. The consultation has just closed.
The NSS has sent the opinion, written by barrister and human rights expert Dr Ronan McCrea to Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone.
Dr McCrea also questions the Church of England's other key claim underpinning its submission: that a challenge to the prohibition on religious bodies performing same sex marriages may be successfully challenged in the European Court of Human Rights. He points out: "Any successful court challenge would apply only to those denominations that wished to carry out same sex marriages. As an organisation opposed to same sex marriage, the Church of England would be unaffected."
Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the NSS, added: "The evident desperation of some of the Church hierarchy to prevent same sex marriage at all costs has led them to put forward disingenuous and specious arguments in the form of manifestly false legal arguments. They have done so in the name of the whole Church, when it is well known that some in the hierarchy and probably the majority of those in the pews do not oppose same sex marriage.
"The Church has now added 'obstruction to democracy' to the long list of arguments in favour of disestablishment. To argue that the proposed change is inconsistent with continuing establishment is a foolish overplaying of the Church's hand. Given that less than 2%, and falling, of the population are in CofE pews on a normal Sunday, the Church's tenuous claim for continued establishment is already weak. But it is damaged irreparably by the barely disguised threat that establishment can bind the Government's hands from making democratic decisions, particularly those giving greater human rights."
Read the formal critique of the Church of the England's submission in full (pdf).
