News Brief

Support for established church fades

-21/6/04

Disestablishment of the Church of England would have the support of most of the countryís non-Christian faith groups and Christian denominations, according to a report by the New Politics Network.

Research by the independent political think-tank, shows that two thirds of the non-Christian religious groups in Britain would favour either complete disestablishment or changes to the present system.

The report follows a poll in April suggesting a majority of MPs are in favour of ending the historic link between the Church of England and the state. Last year the Fabian Society also called for a shake-up in relations between church and state.

The news has been welcomed by Ekklesia and others urging the church to embrace the post-Christendom context that it finds itself in.

Among the many privileges establishment confers is the right of 26 bishops to sit in the House of Lords. In addition, the monarch has a role as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, which has its own parliament, the General Synod, Englandís only other law-making body outside Parliament.

One of the main arguments used by bishops for the continuation of the status quo has been that other faiths value the Anglican voice in the legislative process in the Upper House, because bishops take their views into account on issues such as education, asylum and Iraq.

Todayís report, The Church of England and the State, indicates that this support may be fading. In a project headed by Iain McLean, Professor of Politics at Oxford University, researchers interviewed leading representatives from the Roman Catholic, Scottish Episcopal, Methodist, Quaker, Presbyterian and Baptist churches, as well as senior figures from the Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist faiths.

One third of the respondents favoured the present state of establishment, a third opposed it and a third had reservations about the present system. Opponents objected to the presence of bishops in the House of Lords and raised questions over the role of the Queen as Supreme Governor.

The report does not argue for complete separation of Church and State. Instead, it proposes a similar arrangement to that of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which remains the national church but is largely disestablished.