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 reiterates call for end of Anglican judges’ service
Posted: Tue, 2 Oct 2018 12:21
The National Secular Society has written to the justice secretary to reiterate its call for the end of the Anglican judges' services which mark the beginning of the legal year.
The main service, which took place at Westminster Abbey on Monday, sees senior legal figures pray for guidance at a service conducted according to the rites of the Church of England.
Attendees include the justice secretary (attending as lord chancellor), the lord chief justice and justices of the Supreme Court. Judges attend the service fully robed, in their official capacity and during working hours.
A similar service at York Minster features a procession involving high court judges, circuit judges, tribunal judges, district judges, queen's counsel and other members of the bar attending in robes.
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans told David Gauke the services raise "serious issues about the neutrality and independence – or at the very least the perceived neutrality and independence – of the judiciary".
"It cannot be appropriate in an increasingly pluralistic society for the judiciary to associate itself with, or appear to favour, one particular religious tradition or set of beliefs.
"Judges' services entrench the view that Christianity demands particular respect and exceptionalises it in a way that undermines the impartiality of the judiciary. It cannot be in the interests of justice that these services continue and we ask that you initiate their ending."
The NSS said the services undermine judicial neutrality on contentious issues such as assisted dying, abortion, civil partnerships, free speech, divorce and gender recognition. The Church of England has taken a public position on all of these.
The NSS wrote that "the time must be right to insist on a clear separation between the judiciary and the established church" in light of revelations about the C of E's cover-ups of child abuse. In July the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse heard that judges were among powerful figures who helped the bishop and convicted sex offender Peter Ball evade justice for decades.
Mr Evans added that the services are "an unnecessary burden on the taxpayer". Last year the Ministry of Justice refused to respond to an NSS freedom of information request on the cost of the services to the public purse.
Explaining the decision to write the letter, Mr Evans said: "The state endows judges with enormous responsibility to make decisions which have an impact on the lives of all British citizens.
"In return the state should expect judges to wield their power without fear or favour, including when judging on the conduct of individuals involved in the Church of England or making decisions which may displease its leaders. The Anglican judges' service undermines that.
"The service also entrenches deference to the Anglican faith and religion in public life more generally. And it's particularly unedifying to see it go ahead after the series of recent revelations about the Church of England's appalling handling of child abuse allegations."
The NSS wrote to Gauke's predecessor, David Lidington, to call for the services to be scrapped last year. Lidington, a Christian MP who opposed gay marriage and has advocated for a greater role for religion in public life, did not respond.
Judges' services date back to the Middle Ages, when the High Court was held in Westminster Hall and judges prayed for guidance at the beginning of the legal term.
The NSS's position has previously gained support from legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg. In 2013 Rozenberg wrote: "It is not very edifying to see independent judges taking part in religious rites which are, at best, meaningless to them and, at worst, offensive to their actual beliefs".
The NSS has called on the new justice secretary to consider an alternative to the judges' service that marks the opening of the legal year in a solemn and engaging but secular and inclusive way. The Westminster Abbey service is followed by a breakfast hosted by the lord chancellor, which the NSS did not object to.
C of E wants unconditional government support for church repairs
Posted: Fri, 28 Sep 2018 16:42
The National Secular Society has urged the government not to submit to a Church of England demand for at least £30m per year of unconditional financial support for church maintenance.
According to a Church Times report published on Friday, the outgoing head of the Church Buildings Council has asked for the money for "the repair and maintenance of listed church buildings".
Sir Tony Baldry claimed the government would soon need to decide "how the state gives some consistent, and regular, financial support towards the repair and maintenance of listed church buildings".
Responding to the call, CEO Stephen Evans said the NSS would write to ministers to urge them "to see the bigger picture and avoid giving in to Sir Tony Baldry's scaremongering".
"No institution can reasonably expect the government to give it unconditional financial support, and the Church of England should be no exception. Maintaining buildings of value is a legitimate aim, but the government must treat the C of E like any other wealthy institution which owns properties of value.
"The church is once again pleading poverty when in reality it has plenty of money which is often hidden within its labyrinthine financial structure. It already benefits from generous tax breaks and state support.
"It would be completely unacceptable for the government to submit to the church's demands for unneeded subsidies, particularly in times of austerity when public services are subject to cuts."
Earlier this year the NSS urged the government to allow the Church of England to find its own level of sustainability in response to a government-led review.
And in April the NSS said a government decision to fund minor repairs in Manchester and Suffolk was inappropriate given the C of E's wealth. Today Church Times has reported that this is one of two government-funded programmes for repairing places of worship which are currently underway. The schemes are worth £3m in total.
Baldry made his comments in an address to the C of E's DAC conference in Salisbury. The conference brings together committees which advise on the architecture of places of worship.
In 2014 Baldry said the government had been "incredibly generous" towards the church when it decided to give £30m extra per year to fund VAT on repairs to listed church buildings. In his latest speech he called on churches to lobby to ensure they did not have to pay VAT on such repairs after Brexit.
Since 2014 the government has allocated around £221m to repairing places of worship. The vast majority of the money has gone to the Church of England – despite it having estimated assets of over £20bn.
The proportion of Brits who described themselves as 'belonging to the Church of England' fell to a record low in 2017, according to the most recent British Social Attitudes survey.
Image: David Long / Under repair, via Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 2.0]
