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 calls for UK's public spending watchdog to investigate state handouts to churches
Posted: Thu, 17 Nov 2016 11:59
The National Audit Office has been asked to scrutinise the significant sums of public money that the Government has handed out to wealthy religious organisations.
The National Secular Society has called on the UK's public spending watchdog to investigate Government spending on places of worship – arguing that millions of pounds of taxpayers' money is being handed to wealthy institutions without justification.
Since 2014 the Government has allocated around £221 million to repairing places of worship, with the vast majority of the money going to the Church of England – which has estimated assets of over £20bn.
In a letter to the National Audit Office, the NSS says vast sums of money are being sent from the Treasury to the Church of England without sufficient checks, accusing the Department for Culture Media and Sport of a "lack of accountability".
Since 2014, the DCMS has allocated £40 million to cathedral repairs as part of the 'First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund'. Responsibility for administering the fund has been handed to the Church of England's Archbishops' Council. The fund was intended to cover "necessary works to the fabric of Anglican and Catholic cathedral buildings and structures in England, which will keep the buildings wind-proof and weather-tight, safe and open." Under the scheme, cathedrals are supposed to demonstrate financial need.
However, grants handed out so far include £200,000 for a new sound system at Hereford Cathedral and payments totalling over £1 million pounds to Salisbury Cathedral, despite the Cathedral already having assets of over £43 million pounds and the diocese in which it is situated having a pool of assets totalling £112 million pounds.
In total, 85 payments have been made to the Church of England despite Anglican cathedrals sitting on combined assets of over £1 billion pounds.
In addition, over £6.5 million pounds of public money has been handed over to Britain's Roman Catholic cathedrals.
Keith Porteous Wood, NSS executive Director, said:
"We don't question the need to preserve these historic and architecturally significant buildings, but we do question whether public money is being spent appropriately. Religious organisations are responsible for maintaining their buildings and we believe public money should only be used to pay for the upkeep of these buildings where there is a demonstrable need to do so.
"The Church of England has the capacity to maintain its buildings so should not be handed public money which is spent without proper oversight, particularly in this time of austerity when those most in need are facing significant cuts to essential services."
In 2012 the Second Church Estates Commissioner Sir Tony Baldry MP said, "The Chancellor of the Exchequer has been incredibly generous towards the Church."
More recently Simon Jenkins argued in the Spectator that "business is booming" in England's cathedrals. "Cathedral turnover of £220 million has almost doubled in a decade," he wrote.
Faith and communities minister Lord Nick Bourne recently began a year-long tour of all 42 of England's cathedrals.
The First World War Centenary Cathedral Repairs Fund represents only a fraction of the public money handed to the Church of England for keeping its buildings in good repair. In addition, up to £42 million a year is available through the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme; The Heritage Lottery Fund provides grants of around £25 million annually; and £25 million has been set aside this year for the Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund.
Church academy chain to close only secular school
Posted: Tue, 15 Nov 2016 10:40
A Church of England multi-academy trust is set to close the only non-faith school under its control.
The Diocese of Ely Multi-Academy Trust (DEMAT) has 22 schools in Norfolk, including a single community school, the Ten Mile Bank Riverside Academy.
The trust has proposed closing the Academy, meaning pupils from the community school will have to move to a Church of England VC school which is 2 miles away and would involve a walk along the A10.
The nearest non-religious community school is 6 miles away and parents are said to be "up in arms" about the planned closure.
Campaigners trying to save the school told the local paper that "Many people believe that Ten Mile Bank is being threatened with closure because it is a non-faith school – it's the only school in DEMAT's history which is not a faith school."
Ryan Coogan, who chairs a group trying to save the academy, said that "In the last Ofsted inspection this was found to be a 'good' school, children are being turned away from the school as their parents have been told it's over-populated, and as far as we know there are no financial issues."
Stephen Evans, campaigns director of the National Secular Society, said of the plans: "People living in rural areas already face some of the biggest difficulties in finding a secular education for their children.
"No local community wants to lose its school, but where schools need to be consolidated or small schools closed preserving the provision of secular schools should be the priority. Secular schools are appropriate for all pupils, irrespective of their faith or non-faith backgrounds, and the provision of these inclusive schools should be protected.
"Where this process is led by religiously motivated academy trusts rather than local communities, there is a real democratic deficit – with local people left out of the decision making. This episode shows that religious academy trusts can be expected to have very little interest in protecting the ethos of non-religious schools which fall under religious control."
A consultation is now being held on the proposals.
