Religion in Britain

 

 

 

Contents.

 

 

Introduction………………………………………………………3

Chapter 1. Christian Churches……………………………………...5

1.1.The Church of England……………………………………………………5

1.2.The Scottish Free Church (Kirk)…………………………………………..7

1.3.Roman Catholic Church…………………………………………………...8

1.4.Free Churches……………………………………………………………...9

Chapter 2. Non-Christian Churches…………………………………13

2.1.Judaism……………………………………………………………………13

2.2.Islam……………………………………………………………………….14

2.3.Hinduism…………………………………………………………………..15

2.4.Sikhism…………………………………………………………………….15

2.5.Buddhism…………………………………………………………………..15

2.6.Small communities…………………………………………………………16

Conclusion………………………………………………………..17

Bibliography………………………………………………………18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction.

In childhood we are too absorbed in our everyday life. But in youth we start trying to understand that although some laws are important but they comprise just a part of our life. And our life is a part of something more global – of some life in which every essence is a part of something larger. We begin to worry about questions of the importance of a certain life and how the different lives refer to each other. We start searching for the essence of life. We seek for independent way of thinking. More and more we try to create our personal lives. And people have created religion to help them define what is really important. Today World religions may offer us a great variety of answers to our questions.

In early age we are sure that our parents know everything. As we become older we sometimes try to solve our problems in the same way as our parents did that. However, we sometimes forget that they can't know everything; they are unable to solve all the problems of our lives. In childhood we used their wisdom though this wisdom is not absolute knowledge. We can't feel confident taking into consideration only the ideas of other people. We can't blindly follow the advice. We always know in our hearts that only our personal answer can be proper for our personal experience. And in this way religion represents the combination of such answers.

As for me, to know the language means to know everything about the social life of the people who speak it. It wouldn't be much exaggeration to say that religion is a very important sphere of social life. Thus, being eager to know as much as possible about Great Britain, on the one hand, and searching the answer to some burning questions, on the other hand, I turned my attention to religions of Great Britain. It is a well-known fact that Great Britain represents a multireligion society and if we look at this variety more attentively, we are sure to discover a paradox. This paradox lies in the combination of absolutely different religious systems of beliefs, adopted by various groups of population. On the one hand, Great Britain is officially a Christian country where church and state are linked, as practiced by the Church of England (Anglican). The Church in Wales is also Anglican. In Scotland the official Church is the Presbyterian Church of Scotland (Anglican). Other Christians include the Roman Catholics and the Methodists.

On the other, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and other non-Christian communities form quite a large part of the population and the British pride themselves in tolerance and adoptability. At the same time many small religious groups and sects appear to be growing, while most young people have no religious beliefs at all. 

In 2005 the Census collected information about religious identity of people living in Britain

The UK population: by religion, April 2005 

 
Source: Census, Office for National Statistics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1.  Christian Churches.

 

1.1. Church of England

 

The Church of England is the established church in England for the main reason that the ministers of the established church work in services run by the state, such as the armed forces, national hospitals and prisons, and may be paid a salary for such services by the State.

The link between Church and state is something unique to Britain; no other western country has anything quite like it. The Queen is not only the symbolic head of state, but she is also the head of the Church of England; British coins have a portrait of the monarch with the letters FD (from the Latin fidei defensor, Defender of the Faith). In most modern countries there is a strict separation between the government and religion. How did this strange situation come in Britain?

It was partly the result of a historical accident. King Henry VIII wanted to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, in order to marry again but the Pope would not agree. So, in the early 1530s, Henry broke away from Rome, and the Church of England became independent. It was still Catholic, but it then began to adopt many of the new Protestant ideas from Germany, such as man's ability to speak to God without the intercession of priests. Under Queen Elisabeth I, the Church became officially Protestant, and Roman Catholics were persecuted – they were forced to go to Protestant church services, and much of their money was confiscated. Even today a Catholic may not become king or queen.

As a result, bishops of the Church of England are appointed by the Queen; even if she does not use her own judgement but always accepts the advice of those in Church. The bishops sit in the House of Lords, the upper house of the UK Parliament – so, in theory at least, they are part of the government of the country. Prayers are said at the Opening of Parliament in November each year. Religious education is compulsory in schools, and one quarter of all primary schools are Church schools. All state schools are required by law to have a collective act of worship, which is predominantly Christian.

Of course, organised Christianity is in decline in most countries. The Church of England is no exception. A hundred years ago about 60 per cent of the population went to church on a Sunday, and today the figure is less than 10 per cent. People used to know the Bible so well that their everyday language was full of quotations from it; British children at the beginning of the third millennium do not know the simplest Bible stories. The Church itself has quietly given up talking about many of its own basic beliefs: the virgin birth, heaven and hell, the resurrection of the body.

The Church of England has tried to modernise itself in various ways. Vicars no longer condemn gay men or lesbians, or couples who live without being married. Rock music sometimes replaces the traditional organ-played hymns. And very significantly, since 1994 women can become priests; this question caused serious division within the Church, and some members left and joined the Roman Catholics.

British people have not given up the Church altogether. There is still a sort of nostalgic respect for the music, the buildings and the ritual. At Christian, groups of people go out singing carols, and the churches fill up for midnight mass on Christian Eve. About half of all weddings still take place in church, and a quarter of all children are baptised. Almost all funerals have a Christian element, at least some prayers and hymns.

Of course Christianity in this country does not begin and end with the Church of England. There is quite a strong the Scottish Free Church, Roman Catholic community – many Irish, Italian and Polish immigrants, but also English Catholics who kept their faith through the persecution during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Greeks and Russians in Britain have brought with them their own orthodox churches.

In addition, there are numerous smaller Christian groups and churches; in fact there are more than in any other country – even the USA has only half as many as Britain. The older ones are the members of Free Churches: Quakers, Baptists, Presbyterians and Methodists. Newer ones include the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Scientists. African-Caribbean people are particularly attracted to the Pentecostal churches and the Seventh Day Adventists.

 

1.2. The Scottish Free Church (Kirk).

 

The Church of Scotland was created in 1560 by John Knox, who was opposed to the idea of bishop's rule and considered that the English Church had not moved sufficiently far from Rome. The Scottish Church followed the teachings of Calvin, a leading proponent of the European Reformation, and developed a rather severe form of Presbyterian Protestantism. Its churches are plain and the emphasis is on the pulpit, where the gospel is preached. Unlike the Church of England, the Church of Scotland is subject neither to the Crown, nor to Parliament. The Church of Scotland Act 1921 confirmed its complete freedom in all spiritual matters (questions of doctrine, worship, government and discipline) from state authority, which it assorted after the union оf Scotland with England in 1707. The church is generally known as the Scottish Kirk and has the adult membership of about 800000.

The Kirk is more democratic than the Church of England in that it has a Presbyterian form of government. The 1300 churches are governed locally by Kirk Sessions, consisting of ministers and elected elders. The minister and one of these elders represent the Kirk at the regional presbytery. Each of the 46 presbyteries of Scotland elects two commissioners to represent at the principal governing body of the Church – the general Assembly. It meets every year under the presidency of an elected Moderator, who serves for one year and is the leader of the church.

In keeping with its democratic nature, it admits women as well as men to the ministry. In 1988, for example, it admitted more women than men.

 

 

1.3. Roman Catholic Church.

The Roman Catholic Church in Britain experienced much persecution and discrimination after the Reformation. In England it had ceased to exist in the 16th century (in 1829 only were Catholic priests allowed to live within five miles of towns) and was formally restored in 1850. In Scotland the Church's formal structure was not restored until 1878. However, through this period Catholicism never disappeared entirely. For the preceding 300 years some Catholic families had refused to accept the new Church and were regarded not wholeheartedly English. The English Protestant prejudice that to be a Catholic is to be not quite wholly English has only really disappeared in the past twenty-five years.

Since 1850 the Roman Catholic Church has grown rapidly. Today Catholicism is widely practised throughout Britain and enjoys complete freedom, except that no Catholic can become monarch. There are now seven Catholic provinces in Great Britain (four in England, two in Scotland and one in Wales), each under the supervision of an archbishop; 30 dioceses, each under the control of a bishop; and over 3,320 parishes and about 4,800 priests (only men may become priests). The head of the Church in England is the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, and the senior lay Catholic is the Duke of Norfolk. In Northern Ireland there is one province with six dioceses, some of which overlap with dioceses in the Irish Republic.

About 10% of British citizens (some 5.7 million) claim to be Roman 
Catholics. It would seem that the Catholic community is made 
principally of the very rich and very poor. The former are some of the 
oldest aristocratic families that are traditionally Catholic; of these the 
Howards (the hereditary Dukes of Norfolk) are the most famous. The 
latter are represented by large numbers of Irish immigrants and working 
class people in deprived areas (among whom the Catholics concentrated 
much of their effort in the 19th century). Recently there has been a 
trickle of middle-class converts, including a number of intellectuals, 
mainly writers, G K. Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh, and Graham Greene, 
just to mention a few. 

Most Catholics are seemingly strict in their adherence to religious customs. The church continues to emphasise the important role of education for its children, and requires its members to try to bring up their children in the Catholic faith. There are as many as 2,500 Catholic schools in Britain who are often staffed by members of religious orders, such as Jesuits and Marists. These and other orders also perform considerable social work such as nursing, hospital duties, childcare and running homes for the elderly.

 

1.4. Free Churches.

The Free (or Nonconformist) Churches are those Protestant sects in Britain, which unlike the Church of England and the Church of Scotland, are not established as official churches of the state. Their history is that of schism and separation, not only from the Church of England but also from each other. This has resulted in the formation of many different sects and the continuation of the nonconformist tradition. These sects have developed their own convictions and traditions, which are often characterised by simple church services, worship and buildings as well as having no bishops or 'episcopacy'. The Free churches tend to be strongest in northern England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The major Free Churches today are the Methodists, the Baptists, the United Reformed Church and the Salvation Army. All of these allow both men and women to become priests.

The Methodist Church is the largest of the Free Churches with some 389,000 full adult members and a community of 1.2 million. It was established in 1784 by John Wesley (1703—91) after Church of England obliged him to separate and form his own organisation. In the 19th century there were further arguments and disagreements within the Methodist church itself, but in 1932 most of the disputes were settled. The present church is based on the 1932 union of most of the separate Methodist sects, though independent Methodist churches still exist in Britain (the Methodist Church of Ireland has over 14,000 members in Northern Ireland) and abroad, with a world-wide membership of several million.

Members of this church are sometimes referred as Weslians, after their founder. The organisation of this church is similar to that of Presbyterians in practice, that is, it is governed by 'presbyteries' or local councils in which each congregation is represented by its minister and laymen. Most of the ministers in this church are laymen.

The Baptists date from the 17th century, being the oldest dissenters in Britain. They reject state authority over the church; each congregation is governed by its own Church Meeting of members over whom the Minister presides. The Baptists practice Believers (Adult) Baptism & whence the name).

The Baptists today are mainly grouped in associations of churches, most of which belong to the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland (re-formed in 1812). The membership of this Union is some 150,000. There are also separate Baptist Unions for Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and other independent Baptist Churches.

The third largest of the Free Churches is the United Reformed Church (with some 95,000 members). It was formed in 1972 when the Congregational Church in England and Wales (the oldest Protestant minority in Britain, whose origins can be traced back to the Puritans of the 16th century) and the Presbyterian Church of England (a church closely related in doctrine and worship to the Church of Scotland) merged.

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) came into being in the middle of the 17th century under the leadership of George Fox (1624— 91). It has no ordained ministers and no conventionally organised services, like liturgy or sacraments. Silent worship is central to its life as a religious organisation. Their churches, called meetinghouses, are found only in large towns. Most of their members are wealthy and some of the leading industrial families can be counted among them. The Quakers' pacifism and social work are influential and their membership has increased since the early 20th century to about 18,000 adult members and 9,000 attenders in the UK.

The Salvation Army, with its emphasis upon saving souls through a very practical Christian mission, was founded in the East End of London by William Booth in 1865 and now has some 55,000 members, 3,150 officers (ordained ministers) and more than 1000 centres of worship. It has since spread to 85 other countries, and has a worldwide strength of about 2.5 million. The Salvation Army is a very efficient organisation and has 130 centres to help alcoholics, the homeless, the poor, the abused and the needy. The members of this church, men and women alike, wear a special dark blue military-like uniform. They may be frequently seen on the streets of British towns and cities, playing and singing religious music, collecting money, preaching and selling their magazine.

The Free churches of Britain are growing and part of their revival may be attributed to the vitality of the West Indian churches. As West Indian immigrants in the 1950s and the 1960s were not welcomed into Anglican churches, many decided to form their own churches. Their music and informal joyfulness of worship spread quickly in evangelical circles.

There are also a number of Christian communities of foreign origin, including Orthodox, Lutheran and Reformed Churches of various European countries, the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Armenian Church. They have established their own centres of worship, particularly in London; all these churches operate in a variety of languages. The largest is probably the Greek Orthodox Church, many of whose members are of Cypriot origin.

There are also several other religious organisations in the UK, which were founded in the United States in the last century. These include the Christadelphians, the Christian Scientists, the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church), the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Seventh-Day Adventists, and the Spiritualists.

This diversity of Christian groups and affiliations results in the extremely varied religious life in Britain today, but one, which is an important reality for a large number of people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2. Non-Christian Churchers.

Apart from Christianity, there are at least five major non-Christian religions with a substantial number of adherents in Britain: Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism.

 

2.1. Judaism.

Since its establishment, the Christian Church has been closely linked to the State and has played an important part in moulding the social structure of the country. For non-Christian religions there was little room left, therefore the Jewish community was for a number of centuries the only non-Christian faith in England.

The first groups of Jews came to Britain during the Norman invasion and were mainly merchants and moneylenders and stayed until 1290 when King Edward I expelled Jews from the country by royal decree. The present Jewish community dates from 1656, having been founded by Sephardim (Jews from Spain, Portugal and north Africa). Later, in the 19th century a substantial group of some 200,000 Jewish settlers came from Germany and central Europe, these are known as Ashkenazim.

As a result of the separate origins, and of the growth of Progressive Judaism, the Reform and Liberal movements, the Jews represent different religious groups. Broadly speaking, the Jews in Britain are divided into the majority Ashkenazi Orthodox faith (that belong to the United Synagogues and whose main spiritual authority is the Chief Rabbi) and the minority Reform group. A much smaller number of Sephardic Orthodox still recognises a different leader, the Haham.

Today the Jewish community in Britain has about 285,000 members and is, after that in France, the largest Jewish population in Europe. The focus of Jewish religious life is in the 365 congregations, which centre on the local synagogue and Jewish denominational schools that are attended by roughly two in every five Jewish children aged 5 to 17. Over 100 agencies provide welfare services, e.g. catering for elderly and handicapped people. The majority of Jews live in Greater London, and the rest live mainly in urban areas outside London, like Leeds, Manchester and Salford and in Brighton.

As in the Christian Church, the fundamentalist part of the Jewry seems to grow compared with other groups, and causes some discomfort for those who do not share their certainties and legal observances.

Non-white immigration into Britain during the past 50 years has resulted in the substantial growth of other non-Christian communities: Hindus, Sikhs. Buddhists and Muslims.

 

2.2. Islam.

 

The Muslim community (with some 1.5 – 2 million) is the largest in the country. Most of them come from Pakistan and Bangladesh, but there are sizeable   groups   from   India, Cyprus, the Arab   countries, Malaysia and parts of Africa.

This population is increasing due to both a higher birth rate among Muslims and a growing conversion to Islam. The Muslim community is the most important and not only on account of its size. The British Muslims have become very vocal in expressing their opinions on a range of matters.

The first mosque in the UK was established at Woking, Surrey, in 1890. Today there are over 1,000 mosques and community Muslim prayer centres throughout Britain. They range from converted houses in many towns to the London Central Mosque at Regent's Park and its associated Islamic Cultural Centre, one of the most important institutions in the Western world. There are also important mosques and cultural centres in Liverpool, Manchester, Leicester, Birmingham, Bradford, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Mosques are not only places of worship; they also offer instruction in the Muslim way of life and facilities for educational and welfare activities.

Many of the mosques belong to various Muslim organisations, and both the Sunni and the Shi'a traditions within Islam are represented in the UK. Members of some of the major Sufi traditions have also developed branches in Britain.