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
Government must not prop up the Church of England, says NSS
Posted: Fri, 27 Jan 2017 11:37
The National Secular Society has urged the Government to allow the Church of England to find its own level of sustainability, in a response to a Government-led review.
The English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review was commissioned by the Government in March 2016 to consider the challenges faced by Anglican church buildings and their long term sustainability.
Over 2000 Anglican churches have congregations of fewer than 10, and two-thirds of church buildings are in rural areas, home to just 20% of the population.
Attendance at Church of England services has plunged to its lowest level ever with official figures showing that only 1.4% of the population of England now attend Anglican services on a typical Sunday morning.
The Government's church buildings task force is seeking to explore "creative and innovative ways" of using available resources more effectively to ensure churches "continue to be an integral part of local life" while not increasing the overall level of Government funding.
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 – despite it having estimated assets of over £20bn.
The survey asks whether the local community – whether they attend their local Church of England church or not – has a "responsibility" for the preservation or upkeep of church buildings, and asks what churches need to offer in order to be attractive as venues for wider events and ventures.
In a response to the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, which is coordinating the survey, the NSS said it would be wrong for the Government to excessively subsidise buildings if there was little local demand.
Churches are not ideal substitutes for community buildings, the Society said, and may prove alienating to some.
A spokesperson for the NSS said: "While there is a secular case for protecting buildings of cultural and historical significance, the Church of England is an extremely wealthy organisation which should not shirk its responsibility."
Arguing that the Review should not support claims that church buildings are unsustainable without wider financial and community support, the NSS pointed to the Churches' assets and priorities, stating that: "If the Church chooses to continue to withdraw support in order to focus on mission and church growth, then it should expect to lose control of such assets – which may be of interest to some community, local government or private developers."
You can respond to the English Churches and Cathedrals Sustainability Review here. The survey will close at noon on Tuesday 31st January.
Britain’s changing belief landscape requires a rethink of religion’s public role
Posted: Mon, 26 Dec 2016 20:22
The time has come to separate church and state in order to ensure equality and fairness for believers and non-believers alike, says a major new report launched by the National Secular Society.
The report says that Britain's "drift away from Christianity" coupled with the rise in minority religions and increasing non-religiosity demands a "long term, sustainable settlement on the relationship between religion and the state".
Rethinking religion and belief in public life: a manifesto for change has been sent to all MPs as part of a major drive by the Society to encourage policymakers and citizens of all faiths and none to find common cause in promoting principles of secularism.
It calls for Britain to "evolve" into a secular democracy with a clear separation between religion and state. It criticises the prevailing multi-faithist approach as being "at odds with the increasing religious indifference" in Britain.
Terry Sanderson, National Secular Society president, said: "Vast swathes of the population are simply not interested in religion, it doesn't play a part in their lives, but the state refuses to recognise this.
"Britain is now one of the most religiously diverse and, at the same time, non-religious nations in the world. Rather than burying its head in the sand, the state needs to respond to these fundamental cultural changes. Our report sets out constructive and specific proposals to fundamentally reform the role of religion in public life to ensure that every citizen can be treated fairly and valued equally, irrespective of their religious outlook."
The report highlights state education as the area where the "most overt imposition of religion on British citizens" takes place – and calls for a "moratorium on the opening of any new publicly-funded faith schools. It also recommends the abolition of the legal requirement on all schools to provide Christian worship and an end to discriminatory admissions arrangements.
The report describes the Church of England's privileged position as "no longer tenable". It recommends that the bishops' bench be removed from the House of Lords, with religious leaders only appointed on merit along the same criteria as all other appointees, rather than the current system where bishops are given seats 'as of right'.
The report also warns that the rise of so called 'sharia courts' risks undermining the legal system. Allowing groups to opt-out of the state legal system in favour of a religious alternative "strikes at the heart of citizenship and a cohesive society", says the report.
The report also urges politicians to refrain from describing Britain as a "Christian country".
"Any approach which seeks to label the values widely shared by UK citizens as exclusively "Christian" is doomed to be out of touch with the views and lifestyles of the population", it states.
According to the report:
"Increasing secularity and the fragmentation of religious belief means the need to treat people as individual citizens rather than as members of a religion has become even more apparent. No faith-based approach from the state will ever encompass every strand of belief that exists in the UK today, and a human rights, individual-centred approach – rather than the failed multicultural or multi-faithist model – is vital for every citizen to be treated and valued equally."
The 'manifesto for change', covering every area of the Society's work, makes detailed recommendations on a broad selection of important policy areas relating to protecting human rights law and ensuring equality for all.
