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 urges Government not to be pushed into funding Church repairs
Posted: Fri, 2 Feb 2018 14:28
The National Secular Society has urged the Government to take the Church of England's vast wealth into account before handing out any more grants to assist it with building repairs.
NSS representatives met with the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to discuss the findings of a recent Government commissioned review into the sustainability of the Church of England's church and cathedral buildings.
The Taylor review said that care, maintenance and repair of England's 16,000 churches is an "enormous task" and advocated for more local authority and central government funding. It was shortly followed by a report of the Church of England's Cathedral Working Group, which also called for "dialogue with the Government about state funding for cathedrals."
But the NSS warned that government pay-outs were unlikely to improve church sustainability and said no further grants should be made without properly assessing the Church's financial need.
The Church of England's fragmented financial structure makes calculating its total wealth difficult, but it is thought to hold assets in excess of £15bn. Despite this, at least £810m of public money has been channelled into the Church via Government and lottery sources since 1999.
Meanwhile, the Church of England's Strategic Investment Board has recently announced plans to spend £24.4m on evangelism projects which will include opening new churches in deprived urban estates.
Last year attendance at Church of England services plunged to its lowest level ever. Official figures showed that only 1.4% of the population of England now attend Anglican services on a typical Sunday morning.
National Secular Society CEO Stephen Evans said: "With a fast falling number of adherents the Church should seriously consider downsizing so it can stand on its own two feet.
"But the truth is that the Church has more than enough money to finance its own maintenance and repairs but would rather spend its money on mission. By accepting responsibility to fund church repairs the state is, in effect, subsidising Church of England evangelism.
"The nation's heritage buildings are a valuable asset, and those of architectural, cultural and historical significance should be preserved. But the state should think twice before handing over taxpayers' money to a wealthy institution with a labyrinthine financial structure and a missionary zeal."
Iceland: 72% support separation of church and state
Posted: Wed, 17 Jan 2018 14:48
More than seven out of ten Icelanders who have an opinion on the separation of church and state support the idea, a poll has found.
The poll, which was conducted on behalf of Siðmennt, the Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association, found that 72% of those who expressed a view supported the full separation of church and state.
Currently the Icelandic constitution stipulates that the state church of Iceland is the Icelandic Evangelical Lutheran Church. As of last year, about 75% of Iceland's inhabitants were registered members of the Church. Until 2013, newborn babies were automatically registered with their mother's church. Additionally all Icelanders, including the non-religious, have to pay a tax that is distributed among 40 religious institutions including the Evangelical Lutheran Church, so there has been little incentive for Icelanders to leave the Church officially.
The poll also found that Iceland is becoming increasingly irreligious. Less than half (46%) of Icelanders claimed they were religious, the lowest figure to date. Twenty years ago nearly 90% were religious. More than 40% of respondents aged 25 or younger said they were atheist, and none of them believed the world was created by God.
In all but the oldest age category a majority accepted the big bang theory. Forty-six per cent of those older than 55 accepted it, while 25% believed God created the world.
"Secularisation [in Iceland] has occurred very quickly, especially among younger people," said Bjarni Jonsson, the managing director of Siðmennt. "With increased education and broad-mindedness, change can occur quickly."
According to Boasdottir, the study has been widely discussed by Icelandic priests on Facebook. "As far as I have seen they are [neither] surprised nor [shocked by] the results. They see no necessary opposition between believing in God and accepting scientific theories on creation of the world."
One religion that has seen significant growth is Zuism – a Neopagan religion based on the worship of Sumerian gods. In 2017, almost 1% of the country's population (about 3,000 people) had signed up to Zuism. The Zuist church pays back to its members the amount of money they are taxed to pay for religious institutions (about £58 per year).
Image: © Ira Goldstein, via Wikicommons [CC BY-SA 3.0]
