BRITISHNESS OF RELIGION IN UK and Former British Empire

National churches

Typical Church of England church: Christ Church, Sheffield, England The Protestant Reformation established different religious practices in the different countries of the United Kingdom

 The Church of England officially established Christian Church=the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion o It considers itself to be both Catholic and reformed

 The Church of Scotland, known informally The Kirk, is the national church of Scotland (Presbyterian – the Scottish reformation; recognized by The Church of Scotland Act in 1921)

 The Church of Wales, (Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru), is a member Church of the Anglican Communion

 The Anglican Church of Ireland = an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion, operating across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

 the Presbyterian Church of Ireland

 the Methodist Church movement traces its origin to the Evangelical awakening in the 18th century



 Roman Catholic Church: has separate national churches for England, Wales and Scotland which face official discrimination in the early years of UK  Non conformist (Dissenters) trace back from the mid-14th century, when Christians who opposed State interference in religious matters, broke away from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Today these include:

o Baptist o Presbyterian o Congregational church o Mennonite o Unitarians According to the 2001 UK census, Christianity is the major religion, followed by

 Islam,

North London Central Mosque, Finsbury Park.  Hinduism,

The Neasden Temple is the second largest temple of Hinduism in Europe  Sikhism  Judaism

Singers Hill Synagogue, Birmingham Buddism

Kagyu Samye Long Monastery and Tibetan Centre  Bahá’í Faith: monument of Shoghi Effendi Rastafarianism (Rasta): The Rastafari wear locks as an expression of inner spirituality and to emphasize their identity

Dreadlocks, also called locks or dreads, are heavy matted coils of hair which form by themselves eventually fusing together to form a single dread

Neo-paganism: umbrella term for modern religious movements in the industrialized countries, ranging from polytheism to animism, to pantheism and other paradigms.

1. Wicca 2. Neo-druism

3. Germanic Neopaganism

4. Slavic neo-Paganism A group of English neo-paganists (druids)

 Pentecostal churches: are now third after the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church in England.  Orthodox Church (more recently introduced to the UK by Greek, Cypriot, Russian, and other immigrants covering Eastern and Oriental orthodox)

o there are also the Armenian Apostolic church, the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church all in London

o Coptic Orthodox parishes the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Most-Holy Mother of God built in 1997 in traditional Russian architectural style A Eurobarometer opinion poll in 2005 reported that:

 38% "believe there is a God",  40% believe there is "some sort of spirit or life force" and

 20%: "I don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force"

A survey in 2007 suggested that:

42% of adults resident in the UK prayed, with one in six praying on a daily basis Following the American Revolution and the expansion of the British Empire in the 17th century the Church of England and associated Episcopal churches in Ireland and in England developed in:

 SUA  Canada

 Africa

 Australasia

 Pacific Islands

o independent church with their own bishops

o self-governing structures;

o activity of Christian missions

o The Book of Common Prayer = a collection of services that worshippers in most Anglican churches acknowledged as one of the ties that bind the Anglican Communion together

o each national or regional Anglican church has full autonomy

o the third largest Christian communion in the world, after the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Patron Saints

Saint George – England

Saint George: a Roman soldier in the Guard of Emperor Diocletian, venerated as a Christian Martyr Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Anglican Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, and the Eastern Catholic Church. He is immortalized in the tale of George and the Dragon and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His memorial is celebrated on 23 April. He is regarded as one of the most prominent military saints.

King Edward III (1327 – 1377) was known for promoting the codes of knighthood and in 1348 founded the Order of the Garter. During his reign, George came to be recognized as the patron saint of the English monarchy

In the 16th century, William Shakespeare firmly placed St George within the national conscience in his play Henry V in which the English troops are rallied with the cry “God for Harry, England and St George,” and Edmund Spenser included St. George (Redcross Knight) as a central figure in his epic poem The Faerie Queen. Saint Andrew – Scotland

Icon of the Apostle Saint Andrew; the patron saint of Scotland (November, 30)

Christian Apostle and the younger brother of Saint Peter: The name "Andrew" (from Greek: Andreia, manhood, or valour), like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the second or third century BC. The Saltire (or "St. Andrew's Cross") is the national flag of Scotland Saint David (Welsh-Dewi Sant): church official; later regarded as a patron saint of Wales. David is a native of the country of which he is patron saint, and a relatively large amount of information is known about his life

St. David as teacher of St. Finnian in a stained glass window at Clonard Saint Patrick (390 - 460) (Latin: Patricius, Irish: Naomh Pádraig): Roman Britain born Christian missionary; patron saint of Ireland, along with Bridgit of Kildare and Columba.

Pious legend credits Patrick with banishing snakes from the island.

Green ribbons and shamrock are worn in celebration of St Patrick's

Day St. Patrick's Day, Ireland According to legend, St. Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre- Christian Irish people

The Chicago River is dyed green each year for the St. Patrick's Day celebration Religion and education

o Religion is heavily involved with a significant number of the state funded schools, majority being Christian (and mainly either of Church of England or Roman Catholic). o The Education Act 1944 introduced a requirement for a daily act of collective worship and for religious education.

o Religious studies are obligatory subject in the curriculum, but tend to aim at providing an understanding of the main faiths of the world than at instilling a strictly Christian viewpoint. Secularism and tolerance

A synagogue and mosque side by side in London.

o The Society in the United Kingdom is markedly more secular than in the past. The number of churchgoers fell over the last half of the 20th century. However, According to the 2001 census, o 71.6% of population declared themselves to be Christian,

o 2.7% as Muslim o 1% as Hindu o Only 15.5% said they had "no religion" and 7.3% did not reply to the question.

The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 made it an offence to incite hatred against a person on the grounds of their religion. The common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel were finally abolished with the coming into effect of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008

o no strict separation of church and state in the United Kingdom o public officials may in general display religious symbols in the course of their duties

o School uniforms codes are generally drawn up flexibly enough to accommodate compulsory items of religious dress

. some schools have banned wearing the crucifix since wearing a crucifix is not a requirement of Christianity