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
Changes to Germany’s ‘church tax’ prompts exodus
Posted: Mon, 8 Sep 2014 17:13
Hundreds of thousands of German tax-payers are leaving their officially designated religions to avoid paying a 'church tax' levy on capital gains.
In 2010 officials estimates that 70% of church revenues come from 'church tax', which has until now been applied directly on top of German citizen's income tax – where they are members of 'church tax'-collecting denomination.
When registering for a German Tax ID, applicants need to specify if they belong to one of the 'church tax'-collecting denominations. In the case of some nationalities or if they have been baptised, the Finanzamt (federal tax office) will assume an individual's religion and deduct the tax unless they opt-out. The tax takes the form of a levy (typically 9%) of any tax paid.
A range of religious communities benefit from the tax, but the changes predominantly affect Roman Catholics and Protestants as other smaller religious groups choose to collect taxes themselves to save government collection fees.
The 'church tax' premium dates back to the 19th century and has always, officially, also applied to capital gains tax – but until now this has largely been unenforced as the majority of the 'church tax' comes from payroll deductions. From January the tax will be applied directly by banks on capital gains tax. In preparation for this change, banks have written to their customers to find out their religion. Although official figures are not available, Catholic and Protestant dioceses have reported up to a 50% increase in the numbers of people officially deregistering, in the run up to the changes.
Some clergy believe that banks are encouraging their customers to leave their Church in order to reduce their administration. However Thomas Lange, of the local banking association in Duesseldorf, said: "The churches are trying to get off easy. They should ask themselves why such a personal decision as belonging to a church is reduced to the issue of capital gains tax".
Pensioners who rely on savings are said to make up a disproportionate number of those deregistering. Renate Müller, a retiree from Frankfurt, told the Wall Street Journal that she and her husband left the Protestant church after their bank told them they would need to pass on their religious affiliation and begin deducting the tax on income from their retirement fund.
Under Germany's corporatist welfare system, religious organisations among others receive state subsidies, and direct payroll contributions, for delivering public services. Although the state cannot enforce payment, the Leipzig Federal Administrative Court have ruled that churches can deny services such as marriages and funerals to individuals who don't pay the tax. German Catholics who don't pay the tax may also be legally blocked from working in state-funded Catholic schools and hospitals.
Some other European countries which have retained a form of 'church tax', such as Italy and Spain, allow taxpayers the option of contributing to a social aid program instead, but this is not an option in Germany.
Church blocks NHS job offer to clergyman over same-sex marriage
Posted: Mon, 4 Aug 2014 12:48
The first British clergyman to marry a same-sex partner has had a job offer as an NHS chaplain withdrawn after a Bishop revoked his permission to officiate.
Jeremy Pemberton, who currently works as an NHS chaplain in Lincolnshire – having been stopped from operating as a priest in Nottinghamshire following his marriage to Laurence Cunnington – had been offered a job as chaplaincy and bereavement manager in the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Trust. According BBC reporting, the Trust informed Mr Pemberton last week that it had withdrawn its offer of a job after the acting Bishop for Southwell and Nottingham, Richard Inwood, had refused him the official licence, known as a permission to officiate, in the diocese.
In a statement the Bishop Inwood, said: "In its pastoral guidance on same-sex marriage, the House of Bishops said that getting married to someone of the same sex was clearly at variance with the teaching of the Church of England.
"The statement said it would not be appropriate conduct for someone in holy orders to enter into a same-sex marriage, given the need for clergy to model the Church's teaching in their lives."
78.5% of recipients in a Church Times poll opposed the Bishop's decision.
Commenting on BBC Radio Nottingham, Mr Pemberton said: "I've now been treated, I think, in an unfair and rather harsh way in Southwell and Nottingham, whereas I'm now going to carry on doing the job I have been doing in Lincolnshire where I have a licence".
Raising the possibility of a legal challenge, Mr Pemberton said: "I'm not going to bow out gracefully and take a low profile. I think this needs to be tested and I think in due course it probably will be somewhere."
NHS chaplains are salaried employees funded by the taxpayer; in 2012 National Secular Society research revealed that the NHS spends around £29 million a year on the provision of hospital chaplains. According to the NHS careers site, the "vast majority" of NHS chaplains are Anglicans, while chaplains of other faiths are "recruited in proportion to the belief patterns of the local population."
Stephen Evans, campaigns manager at the National Secular Society, said: "NHS chaplains are supposed to be offering a service to all patients. It's therefore concerning that the Church of England can block an individual from such a position on the basis of their sexual orientation or their entering into a legal marriage.
"In today's diverse and pluralist society, where the majority are non-religious, the provision and funding of NHS services within a specifically religious framework needs urgent review."
