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
NSS probes future monarchs over gay marriage stance
Posted: Wed, 17 Aug 2022 11:57
The National Secular Society has pressed the future monarchs to confirm their stance on homosexuality after the Church of England affirmed its opposition to gay sex and marriage.
The NSS wrote to the Prince Charles and the Prince William last week to ask if they agree with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby's affirmation of a Church resolution which said same sex marriage was wrong and "homosexual practices" are incompatible with scripture.
The NSS said that as future sovereigns, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge will be "oath-bound to maintain and preserve the doctrine and worship of the Church of England".
But it highlighted that Prince William has previously spoken up for the rights of LGBT people.
In 2019 the duke told an LGBT youth charity he would "fully support" his children if they were gay, but would worry about the "discrimination that might come".
The NSS asked whether the duke agreed with the Church's stance and for his message to his "future gay, lesbian and bisexual subjects".
The British monarch, as well as being head of state, also holds the title 'Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England'. Under current laws, the monarch is required to "join in communion" with the Church of England and take on the role of Supreme Governor, promoting Anglicanism in Britain.
NSS: 'Clear tension between declaring gay sex is a sin and being the established church'
Stephen Evans, chief executive of the NSS, said: "A Sovereign that seeks to act as a focus for national identity, unity and pride cannot, at the same time, be the supreme governor of an officially homophobic institution.
"There is a clear tension between the issuing of declarations that gay sex is a sin and being the established church.
"That tension should be addressed by disestablishing the Church of England and ensuring our head of state has no constitutional entanglement with religion."
The Lambeth Conference
Welby re-affirmed the resolution, known as Lambeth 1.10, during a speech at the Church's 15th Lambeth Conference earlier this month.
The Lambeth Conference is a meeting held every 10 years for Anglican bishops from around the world and is chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury. This year the conference was attended by more than 650 bishops from 165 countries.
Lambeth 1.10 was originally declared at the 1998 Lambeth Conference.
Welby said: "For the large majority of the Anglican Communion the traditional understanding of marriage is something that is understood, accepted and without question.
"For them, to question this teaching is unthinkable, and in many countries would make the church a victim of derision, contempt and even attack."
Welby's speech has attracted widespread criticism from both within and outside the Church. Broadcaster Sandi Toksvig said in an open letter to Welby that the lives of LGBT+ people are at stake, pointing to higher rates of suicide among LGBT+ young people and the death threats she had received from evangelical Christians.
The Queen sent a message of "warm greetings" to the conference. She said: "As we all emerge from the pandemic, I know that the Conference is taking place at a time of great need for the love of God – both in word and deed."
Image: Copyright House of Lords 2022 / Photography by Annabel Moeller
Over 70% Brits don’t think it’s important for PM to be Christian
Posted: Thu, 4 Aug 2022 12:54
The National Secular Society has called for separation of church and state as figures show Britons don't think the prime minister must be Christian.
Seventy-one per cent of British people said it was "not at all important" (49%) or "not very important" (22%) for a British prime minister to be a Christian, according to figures collected by Deltapoll last month.
Only 23% thought being a Christian was "quite important" (14%) or "very important" (9%) for a prime minister.
There is no religious qualification for a prime minister, but the UK's head of state, the monarch, holds the title "Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England". Under current laws, the monarch is required to "join in communion" with the Church of England and promote Anglicanism in Britain.
Catholics are specifically excluded from becoming the monarch.
The UK is also the only democracy to have an explicitly Christian ceremony for its head of state's accession, with the monarch pledging to maintain the "laws of God" during the coronation.
The entanglement of church and state, resulting from the established status of the Church of England, has also caused problems for prime ministers. Last year, Boris Johnson was forced to relinquish his prime ministerial role of advising on the appointment of CofE bishops after apparently converting to Catholicism.
National Secular Society comment
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans said: "These latest figures showing the British public overwhelmingly don't care whether or not the prime minister is Christian should prompt a serious rethink of the privileged place of the Church in our constitution. An individual's personal religious or nonreligious beliefs shouldn't be a barrier to becoming PM or head of state.
"Laws dictating that our head of state must a be a confirmed member of the Church of England are clearly discriminatory and ridiculous in one of the least religious and most religiously diverse countries in the world.
"More broadly, maintaining an established church makes little sense in modern Britain and causes unnecessary tension, complexity and unfairness. Disestablishment is long overdue."
Hat tip to Clive Field's Counting Religion in Britain blog for the statistics.
Image: Sergeant Tom Robinson RLC, OGL v1.0OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
