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 stresses “urgent need” to focus evangelism on children, young people and their parents
Posted: Thu, 18 Feb 2016 11:19
The National Secular Society (NSS) has warned that publicly funded schools shouldn't be used for evangelism after a report from the Church of England stressed an "urgent need to focus on children, young people and their parents".
The report from the Church's Evangelism Task Group, published in 2015 but discussed at this week's General Synod, says that "while we recognise that we should not be driven by a sense of fear or anxiety the current and future health of the Church of England depends on a renewed sense of urgency to engage with children and young people."
In a letter to Nick Gibb, the minister of state for schools, the NSS called for a duty on all schools, including schools of a religious character, to be respectful and inclusive of all pupils, regardless of their religion or belief, including non-belief.
Stephen Evans, NSS campaigns manager, said: "We're becoming increasingly concerned about the way in which the Church is using publicly-funded education as an opportunity to proselytize.
"These are publicly funded schools, often with a mixed intake of children from a range of faith and non-religious backgrounds. The way in which some church schools are imposing a Christian ethos in what are essentially pluralistic settings is infringing upon parental rights and failing to respect children and young people's own right to freedom of religion or belief."
Mr Evans said parents and school governors have been increasingly contacting the NSS with concerns about a range of issues including schools introducing multiple prayers throughout the day meaning parents cannot effectively withdraw their children from school worship; the values of Church of England faith schools being presented as uniquely "Christian"; religious paraphernalia in classrooms; regular priest-led assemblies and pastoral care being delivered through 'school chaplains'.
One parent governor told the NSS that he felt "very isolated and uncomfortable" by what he described as "an aggressive new push to convert children" at his school.
In 2013 the former chair of the Church of England's Board of Education told the General Synod "We don't need to attract [children, young people and parents] to church they're already there, if we embrace our church schools fully."
More than one million children attend publicly-funded Church of England schools and with more than 130 sponsored and 350 converter academies, the Church is the biggest sponsor of academies in England.
More children attend compulsory collective worship in Church of England schools each day than there are regular church-goers. Just 18 in 1,000 people regularly attend Anglican services.
The Church of England's finance chief said that an 81-year-old was eight times more likely to attend church than a 21 year old, the Independent reported, and that church attendance was likely to halve over the next thirty years.
See also: "Classrooms should be free from an overbearing religious ethos".
Church’s call to pray for Richard Dawkins is “cheap and nasty”, says bishop
Posted: Mon, 15 Feb 2016 14:22
Stephen Lowe, the former Anglican Bishop of Hulme, has criticised the Church of England's tweet offering prayers for Richard Dawkins following the professor's stroke.
On 12 February the Church of England's official twitter account offered "prayers for Prof Dawkins and his family" prompting criticism and allegations that the Church was 'trolling' him.
The Rt Reverend Stephen Lowe said of the message, "I think it's a bit cheap and nasty and I regret it."
Reverend Arun Arora, Director of Communications for the Archbishops' Council, defended the tweet that he'd sent and said it was a "genuine tweet offering prayer for a public person who was unwell."
Keith Porteous Wood, the executive director of the National Secular Society, speaking to the BBC, questioned whether it was an attempt to court publicity.
"The Church's tweet has certainly caused a great deal of publicity, something that will have been neither unexpected nor unwelcome to them.
"We note there was another attempt to promote the Church's 'Just Pray' website when the Reverend Arun Arora was interviewed on Radio 5 over the tweet.
"Ultimately, whether the attempt was sarcastic or an attempt to draw attention to itself only the Church can say. But it wouldn't be the first time it has courted publicity."
The National Secular Society was critical of the Church's actions during the Lord's Prayer advert 'controversy', particularly after it emerged that a large part of the advert had not even been filmed until months after the cinema chain had declined to screen it.
Mr Wood added: "The Church's indignant response to the cinema chain declining to screen the Lord's Prayer advert was craftily released on the very day its prayer website was launched, despite the cinema chain's refusal being known months earlier. It complained of its freedom of expression being curtailed while boasting about the number of hits on the site, which have since flatlined.
"The Church's talk of taking legal action against DCM on the grounds of discrimination was, as we said at the time, baseless. A QC specialising in the media has since confirmed that our assertions on the lack of any grounds for legal action were correct."
