17 Church

.Religion has always-played an important part in the national way of life and this is still true today. There is a complete religious freedom in the UK. There are two established churches- churches legally recognized as official churches of the state: in England the church of England(Anglican) and in Scotland the church of Scotland(Presbyterian).

The church of England is the national church, it was formed in 1534 by king Henry 8. Who broke away from the church of Rome and declared himself Head of the church of England. But many people considered the church of England too much like the catholic church that it hadn't moved far enough away from the church of Rome. They became known as Puritans, because they wanted pure and simple church. They broke away from the church of England and formed their own churches-The Free of Nonconformist churches. All the main free churches-Methodist, Baptist, Evangelical, salvation army are very simple, as well as their services. They don't have archbishops or bishops.

In 1603 the Puritans were persecuted by James 1. The Puritans believed that all worldly pleasures were ungodly. In the 17th century disgusted by the wickedness of the Old World, a small group of them, the Pilgrims, sailed away to found a new godly society in the New World. And Puritanism still remains strong on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, though it no longer has much influence on young people. British monarchs still bear the title of the Head of the Church of England, as well as the title of Defender of the Faith.

The Church of England has two Archbishops-the archbishop of Canterbury, the church's leader, and the Archbishop of York, and the 24 senior bishops who sit in the House of Lords, after them come the remaining 18 bishops. The central governing body of the Church of England is the Central Synod. England is divided into several dozens of districts, called dioceses['daɪəsiːzɪz] епархии. Each diocese has a cathedral and is headed by a bishop. It’s divided into parishes headed by the vicar, who often has an assistant, called a curate.

The Presbyterian Church [ˌprezbɪ'tɪərɪən]is the established church of Scotland. It’s completely separate from the Anglican Church. It has government by elders, all of equal rank. Presbyterianism is a severe form of Protestantism. The church of Sc. Is powerful and its influence is rather puritanical. Each church is governed locally by the Kirk Session, consisting of the priest and the elected elders of the church. The highest body is the General Assembly, consisting of elected clergy and elders.

In Wales most of the people belong to the Free Churches. 2/3 of the population of NI are members of the Anglican Church and Free, or Protestant Churches, the remaining part constitutes the Catholic minority.

The leader of the-Catholic Church in Britain is the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. All the UK is divided into 7 catholic provinces, controlled by an archbishop. There are about 6 million Catholics in Britain.

There are Christian communities of foreign origin like the Orthodox, Lutheran and Reformed churches of various European countries, which have their centers of worship. Great Britain contains adherents of practically even world religion who are free to practice their particular beliefs in a Tolerant and free society.

Although a majority of citizens still identify with Christianity in many surveys, regular church attendance has fallen dramatically since the middle of the 20th century,[2] while immigration and demographic change have contributed to the growth of other faiths.[3]

According to the 2001 UK census, Christianity is the major religion, followed by Islam, Hinduism, Neo-Paganism, Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism in terms of number of adherents. This, and the relatively large number of individuals with nominal or no religious affiliations has led commentators to variously describe the UK as a multi-faith,[4] secularised,[5] or post-Christian society.[6]

Due to the United Kingdom having been formed by the union of previously independent states from 1707,[7][8][9] most of the largest religious groups do not have UK-wide organisational structures. While some groups have separate structures for the individual countries of the United Kingdom, others may have a single structure covering England and Wales or Great Britain. Similarly, due to the relatively recent creation of Northern Ireland in 1921, most major religious groups in Northern Ireland are organised on an all-Ireland basis.

The Tearfund Survey in 2007 found that only 7% of the population considered themselves as practising Christians. Ten per cent attend church weekly and two-thirds had not gone to church in the past year.[13][21] The Tearfund Survey also found that two thirds of UK adults (66%) or 32.2 million people have no connection with the Church at present (nor with another religion). These people were evenly divided between those who have been in the past but have since left (16 million) and those who have never been in their lives (16.2 million).