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
Church of England schools flouting daily worship law
Posted: Fri, 2 Mar 2012 13:57
A survey by The Sunday Times has found that 40% of Church of England 'faith schools' are flouting the law that requires all state funded schools to provide a daily act of collective worship.
The survey revealed that in many C of E schools, Bible readings and prayers have been replaced by group discussions about community and society. According to the Sunday Times, even among those schools that abide by the law, many are doing the bare minimum.
Earlier research by the BBC, conducted last year, found that the law requiring daily worship is widely ignored across all schools and not wanted by parents. Almost two-thirds (64%) of parents said that their children did not attend such an activity and over two thirds (67%) of parents do not support enforcing the law.
Daily worship in all state funded schools has been a legal obligation since 1944. England and Wales are the only countries in the world where such laws apply. Attempts by the National Secular Society to make worship optional for schools rather than compulsory during the passage of last year's Education Bill (now Act) were rejected out of hand by the Government – even though, for tactical reasons, this proposal only related to community (i.e. not church) schools. The Government also rejected our amendments to allow older pupils to withdraw themselves despite backing for our stance from the Joint (Parliamentary) Committee on Human Rights.
Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, said: "Compulsory daily prayers and reflection of a religious nature is law for a reason. It is there to enforce the foundations of moral and spiritual values in children."
Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society said: "This latest research makes it clear that compulsory worship in schools is outdated and unpopular – even in church schools.
"The Government is determined to continue to impose religion on pupils in this draconian way, despite its unpopularity, and England and Wales being the only countries in the world continuing to do so. The law doesn't just say that pupils will attend these acts of worship, but that they will 'take part' in them. This is a breach of their human rights. In what other context — other than some authoritarian theocracy — would worship be enforced even on those who have made a conscientious decision to reject it?"
Establishment means the Queen does not belong equally to us all
Posted: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:09
In a speech at Lambeth palace, the Queen told the Archbishop of Canterbury how inclusive the Church of England is and how important its establishment is to the nation.
She said "The concept of our established Church is occasionally misunderstood and, I believe, commonly under-appreciated. Its role is not to defend Anglicanism to the exclusion of other religions. Instead, the Church has a duty to protect the free practice of all faiths in this country. It certainly provides an identity and spiritual dimension for its own many adherents."
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said:
"The Queen has a strong religious faith. For her to express her enthusiasm for that faith among religious leaders is appropriate and I'm sure they appreciated it. But her depiction of the Church of England as inclusive is a little hard to swallow.
"In the past public office was reserved exclusively for communicants of the Established Church. The National Secular Society has been concerned since its foundation in 1866 about the lack of inclusiveness of the Anglican Church in England. On four occasions, our founding president, Charles Bradlaugh was elected to represent the people of Northampton but was each time refused permission to take the necessary oath to take his seat in Parliament because he was an atheist. That only changed because progressive campaigners and secularists pressed for a more inclusive society.
"In its history the Church of England has excluded Catholics, Jews, atheists – indeed, the Act of Settlement still forbids a Catholic to take the throne. So this rewriting of history is a bit disingenuous.
"In a vastly diverse society such as ours, it is unsustainable that this tiny denomination (less than a million people attend CofE services on the average Sunday) should have such extensive privileges.
"Yet, still today, the Church of England alone enjoys world-class privileges which are the very antithesis of inclusivity. Above all, it continues to enjoy representation in our legislature through its nomination of 26 bishops in the House of Lords. It is the only religious body in a western democracy to have such power. The bishops who sit in Parliament have real power, and exercise it. A quarter of publicly funded schools are under the control of the Church of England, far more than any other religious body. The entire running costs of these schools are paid for by the state, yet many of them exclude local children in favour of those from farther away whose families are, or claim to be, Christian.
"The Queen is regarded by many as a great unifier in Britain. But her position as both head of state and head of the Church of England sends the wrong message to the many, many people in this country who are not Christians – or who are not even the right kind of Christians.
"Prince Charles has already signalled that he intends to change the Coronation Oath so that he can be the defender of all faith rather than the defender of the faith (Anglicanism). So this will essentially cut the exclusive link between the monarchy and the Church of England. It also further alienate those without faith as being somehow unworthy. The best, indeed only, way to ensure inclusion for all is for there to be no religious promise in the accession oath. Although it is unlikely that the Queen would want to change the oath she made at her own coronation, it is clear that the days of the Church of England's privileged status are numbered.
"The Monarch should reign over a country of equals. That is certainly not what the establishment represents, and multi-faith establishment raises more problems than it solves."
