Religion in Great Britain

History

The Church of England traces its formal corporate history from the 597 Augustinian mission, stresses its continuity and identity with the primitive universal Western church, and notes the consolidation of its particular independent and national character in the post-Reformation events of Tudor England.

Christianity arrived in Britain in the first or second century (probably via the tin trade route through Ireland and Iberia), and existed independently of the Church of Rome, as did many other Christian communities of that era. Records note British bishops, such as Restitutes in attendance at the Council of Arles in 314, and, even more significantly, Britain was the home of Pelagius, who nearly defeated Augustine of Hippo`s doctrine of original sin. The Pope sent Saint Augustine from Rome in the 6th century to evangelize the Angles in 597. With the help of Christians already residing in Kent he established his church in Canterbury, the former capital of Kent (it is now Maidstone), and became the first in the series of Archbishops of Canterbury. A later archbishop, the Greek Theodore of Tarsus, also contributed to the organization of English Christianity.

The English Church was under papal authority for nearly a thousand years, before separating from Rome in 1534 during the reign of King Henry VIII. A theological separation had been foreshadowed by various movements within the English Church such as the Lollards, but the English Reformation gained political support when Henry VIII wanted an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn. Under pressure from Catherine's nephew, the Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Pope Clement VII refused the annulment, and, eventually, Henry, although theologically a doctrinal Catholic, took the position of Supreme Head of the Church of England to ensure the annulment of his marriage. He was excommunicated by Pope Paul III. Henry maintained a strong preference for the traditional Catholic practices and, during his reign, Protestant reformers were unable to make many changes to the practices of the Church of England. Indeed, this part of Henry's reign saw the trial for heresy of Protestants as well as Roman Catholics.

Under his son, Edward VI, however, the Church became theologically more radical, before legislatively rejoining the Roman church during the reign of Queen Mary I, in 1555. The settlement under Elizabeth I (from 1558) of a mildly reformed, Catholic, apostolic, and established church (i.e., subject to and part of the state) led to great civil strife in the following century.

For the next century, through the reigns of James I and Charles I, and culminating in the English Civil War and the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, there were significant swings back and forth between two factions: the Puritans (and other radicals) who sought more far-reaching Protestant reforms, and the more conservative churchmen who aimed to keep closer to traditional beliefs and Catholic practices. The failure of political and ecclesiastical authorities to submit to Puritan demands for more extensive reform was one of the causes of open warfare. By continental standards, the level of violence over religion was not high, but the casualties included a king, Charles I, and an Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud. Under the Protectorate of the Commonwealth of England from 1649 to 1660, Anglicanism was disestablished and outlawed, and in its place, Presbyterian ecclesiology was introduced in place of the episcopate. In addition, the Articles were replaced with the Westminster Confession, and the Book of Common Prayer was replaced by the Directory of Public Worship. Despite this, about one quarter of English clergy refused to conform to this form of State Presbyterianism.

With the Restoration of Charles II, Anglicanism too was restored in a form not far removed from the Elizabethan version. One difference was that the ideal of encompassing all the people of England in one religious organization, taken for granted by the Tudors, had to be abandoned. The religious landscape of England assumed its present form, with the Anglican Established church occupying the middle ground, and Roman Catholics and those Puritans who dissented from the Anglican Establishment, too strong to be suppressed altogether, having to continue their existence outside the National Church rather than controlling it. Continuing official suspicion and legal restrictions continued well into the nineteenth century [8, p. 289-291].

Structure

The British monarch, at present Queen Elizabeth II, has the constitutional title of “Supreme Governor of the Church of England”. The Canons of the Church of England state, “We acknowledge that the Queen's most excellent Majesty, acting according to the laws of the realm, is the highest power under God in this kingdom, and has supreme authority over all persons in all causes, as well ecclesiastical as civil.” The Church is then structured as follows:

– Primacy, i.e., Church of England. This is the area under the jurisdiction of a primate, i.e., the Archbishop of Canterbury. A primacy may consist of one or several provinces.

– Province, i.e., York and Canterbury (these are the only two in the Church of England). This is the area under the jurisdiction of an archbishop, i.e. the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. Decision making within the province is the responsibility of the General Synod (see also above). A province is subdivided into many dioceses.

– Diocese, e.g., Durham, Guildford, St Albans, more. This is the area under the jurisdiction of a diocesan bishop, e.g., the Bishops of Durham, Guildford and St Albans, and will have a cathedral. There may also be a small number of assisting bishops, some with the status of Suffragan Bishops, within the diocese who assist the diocesan bishop in his ministry, e.g., in Guildford Diocese, the Bishop of Dorking. The bishops will work with an elected body of lay and ordained representatives, known as the Diocesan Synod, to run the diocese. A diocese is subdivided into a small number of archdeaconries.

– Archdeaconry, e.g., Dorking. This is the area under the jurisdiction of an archdeacon. It will consist of a number of deaneries.

– Deanery, e.g., Lewisham, Runnymede. This is the area for which a rural dean is responsible. It will consist of a number of parishes in a particular region. The rural dean will usually be the incumbent of one of the constituent parishes. The parishes each elect lay (that is non-ordained) representatives to the Deanery Synod. Deanery Synod members each have a vote in the election of representatives to the Diocesan Synod.

– Parish, this is the most local level, often consisting of one church building and community, although nowadays many parishes are joining forces in a variety of ways for financial reasons. The parish will be looked after by either a Vicar, Rector, Priest-in-Charge, Team Rector or Team Vicar, who may also be known as the Incumbent. The running of the parish church is the joint responsibility of the incumbent and the Parochial Church Council (PCC), which consists of the parish clergy and elected representatives from the congregation.

All rectors and vicars are appointed by patrons, who may be private individuals, corporate bodies such as cathedrals, colleges or trusts, or by the bishop or even appointed directly by the crown. No clergy can be instituted and inducted into a parish without swearing the Oath of Allegiance to Her Majesty, and taking the Oath of Canonical Obedience «in all things lawful and honest» to the bishop. Usually the archdeacon inducts into the actual possession of the benefice property - church and parsonage. Curates are appointed by rectors and vicars, but if priests-in-charge then by the bishop after consultations with the patron. Cathedral clergy are appointed either by the Crown, the bishop, or by the dean and chapter themselves. Clergy officiate in a diocese either because they hold office as beneficed clergy, or are licensed by the bishop when appointed (e.g. curates), or simply with permission.

Primates

The most senior bishop of the Church of England is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the archbishop and primate of the southern province of England, the Province of Canterbury. He also has the status of Primate of All England and Metropolitan. He is also the focus of unity for the worldwide Anglican Communion of independent national or regional churches. The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams has served as Archbishop of Canterbury since 2002.

The second most senior bishop is the Archbishop of York, who is the archbishop and primate of the northern province of England, the Province of York. For historical reasons he is referred to as the Primate of England. The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr John Sentamu has served as the Archbishop of York since 2005.

Representative bodies

The Church of England has a legislative body, the General Synod. Synod can create two types of legislation, Measures and Canons. Measures of Synod have to be approved but cannot be amended by the UK Parliament before receiving the Royal Assent and becoming part of the law of England. Canons require Royal Licence and Royal Assent, but form the law of the Church, rather than the law of the land [15].

Doctrine and practice

In both beliefs and practices, or forms of churchmanship, the Church of England is mixed: in some of its congregations worship remains closer to Roman Catholicism (see high church) than most Protestant churches, but in others it is difficult to distinguish between the Anglican forms in use and the uses of other Evangelical bodies (see low church). Its constitution affirms many relatively conservative theological beliefs, its liturgical form of worship is traditional, and its organization embodies a belief in the appropriateness of the historical Episcopal hierarchy of archbishops, bishops, and dioceses.

In many people's eyes, the Church of England has as its primary distinguishing heritage its breadth and “open-mindedness”. Today, beliefs and practices range from those of the Anglo-Catholics, who emphasize liturgy and sacraments, to the far more preaching-centered and less ritual based services of Evangelicals. But this «broad church« faces various contentious doctrinal questions raised by the development of modern society, such as conflicts over the ordination of women as priests (accepted in 1992 and begun in 1994), and the status of non-celibate homosexual clergy (still unsettled today). In July 2005 the divisions were once again apparent, as the General Synod voted to «set in train» the process of allowing the consecration of women as bishops; in February 2006 the Synod voted overwhelmingly for “further exploration” of a scheme that would also allow parishes that did not want a woman bishop to opt for a man instead.

The church also has its own system of canon law, and judicial branch, known as the Ecclesiastical courts, which likewise form a part of the UK court system. Such courts have powers especially in relation to the care of churches and churchyards and the discipline of the clergy [4, p. 215].

So, the Church of England is the officially established Christian Church in England which was under papal authority for nearly a thousand years before separating from Rome in 1534. It has its own structure, representative bodies and legislative body, the General Synod. Beliefs and practices o the Church range from those of the Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals.

2.2 The Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland is a mainstream Protestant Christian church, but like all churches it has developed its own authentic and individual character.

The history of Christianity in Scotland goes back to 400 CE, although the institution itself did not become the established Church of Scotland until 1560, following the Reformation, and the work of John Knox and others.

Despite schisms that led to the formation of the Free Church of Scotland, the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the United Free Church of Scotland, loyalty to the Church has remained strong.

In 2000 Church membership was estimated at 607,714. This figure only represents those officially listed as members. The number of people who consider themselves part of the Church in a more informal way is significantly higher [15].

History

The history of Christianity in Scotland goes back to Saint Ninian in 400 CE. He is said to have led a mission to Scotland which resulted in many conversions.

In the 5th Century another influential figure, Saint Columba, arrived on the Scottish island of Iona where he established a monastic community. This worked to spread the Christian gospel in both Scotland and Northern England.In the 7th Century, the Celtic branch of the church gave way to the more widespread Roman tradition, and the church in Scotland became more unified.The mediaeval church in Scotland was highly influential and its clergy held great secular power. Education was run by the church, and by the time of the Reformation the Church owned half of Scotland.

Political disputes, corruption within the church and new religious ideas from the continent led to discontent with the church. Some church leaders shared this discontent and tried to take action, but were not able to bring about change.

The church was determined to maintain its power, and people who would not conform were sometimes killed. One of those was the scholar George Wishart, a scholar who was condemned for teaching New Testament Greek, preaching Protestant Christianity and denouncing the practices of Rome. Wishart influenced the thinking of many Scots, among them John Knox, the pivotal figure of the Scottish Reformation.

The Reformation

Throughout the 16th Century the Reformation was taking effect in Western Europe. It came to Scotland in 1560, where it soon gathered momentum.

John Knox was a fierce campaigner for Protestant principles. He was famous for arguing with Mary Queen of Scots, a devout Catholic, over Roman beliefs and practices that he believed were idolatrous. Knox and his colleagues wrote an important declaration of faith, known as The Scots Confession. The document was accepted by the Scottish Parliament in 1560.

Attempts were made to impose the same Episcopal form of church government that was used in England on the Church of Scotland during the reigns of both Charles I and Charles II, but these were successfully resisted.

In 1690, under William of Orange who had supported and promoted the Reformation on the continent of Europe, Presbyterianism was recognized as the official form of government in the Scottish Church [8, p. 290-291].

Subgroups/schisms

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Church suffered major internal disruption and schism which led to the formation of new Scottish churches.

In 1732, some who objected to ministers being appointed by patrons rather than by congregations broke away to form the Original Secession Church. This ultimately became a four-way split as members disagreed over such matters as the taking of oaths and whether secular magistrates could have any say in the affairs of the church.

In 1761 further disputes about patronage led to the formation of the Relief Church. In 1847 these two groups came together to form the United Presbyterian Church.

Free Church of Scotland

The Free Church of Scotland was an evangelical Presbyterian Church which was formed in 1843, when approximately one third of the Church of Scotland's congregations broke away. The disagreement that resulted in this schism centered round the appointment of ministers. Many felt that because the Church of Scotland was an `established' church, political and legislative interference could take place. This showed itself for example in the appointment of ministers where the rights of a congregation to choose a minister could be over-ridden by the patron of the parish.

Today's Free Church of Scotland is a continuation of this denomination after a major union in 1900, taking a more conservative position. It is found mainly in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland

This denomination split from the Free Church in 1893 because of changing attitudes to the Westminster Confession of Faith.

The Westminster Confession had been adopted in 1647 by the Churches of Scotland and England together as a `subordinate standard', helping to interpret Holy Scripture. It enshrined Puritan beliefs of the time and not all felt they could affirm it completely. The 1893 Assembly was being asked to make allowance for `diversity of opinion'. The denomination is most active in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

The Westminster Confession remains the `subordinate standard' of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church, together with the allowance for `liberty of opinion' where a belief is not any more seen as agreeing with the Bible.

The United Free Church of Scotland

The United Free Church of Scotland was formed in 1900, when members of the Free Church of Scotland amalgamated with the United Presbyterian Church.

Today's United Free Church is a continuation of the former denomination when the majority of its members united with the Church of Scotland in 1929. It is Presbyterian and evangelical.

The United Free Church remains opposed to the idea of an established church. They believe this promotes inequality between churches and damages inter-church relationships. Although `established', the Church of Scotland today emphasizes the place of other churches in Scotland and seeks to co-operate with them.

Structure

The Church of Scotland is Presbyterian in its structure, governed by a system of local, regional and national `courts' or councils.

`Presbyterian' government refers to the sharing of authority in the church by an equal number of `elders' (elected from the membership of the church) and ministers. Both are ordained for their special tasks.

The local council is the Kirk Session, consisting of elders and the minister.

The regional council is the Presbytery, which looks after all the churches in the area.

The national council is known as the General Assembly and convenes each year in Edinburgh. This meeting establishes the laws which govern the church and the priorities for the coming year.

The Assembly represents all presbyteries. In between meetings its work is carried out by several councils covering such areas as mission, education, social services, worship, doctrine and finance.

The most public position in the Church of Scotland is that of Moderator who chairs the General Assembly. It is an honorary (which means unpaid) and elected role held for a year.

The Moderator makes local and international visits during the ensuing year, encouraging the church and representing the church to wider society.

Beliefs

The Church of Scotland is one of the Reformation churches. It believes that this means that it must continue to reform as new insights are gained about the church and how it can meet the needs of the times.

The main beliefs of the Church of Scotland are found within the Bible, in the New and Old Testaments together. Like all mainstream churches, it accepts the doctrine of the Holy Trinity; that God is experienced as Father, Son (in Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit.

It sees Jesus Christ as the only head of the church and teaches that the church is his «body». The Church of Scotland believes that God demonstrated his love for humanity through his son Jesus Christ and offers to reconcile people to each other and to God.

The Church believes God wants the world to be a just place where people show concern for others and treat each other with equality and respect.

The Church believes God exists alongside people in a spiritual form. The Holy Spirit provides strength, security and peace, yet also challenges pride, hostility, dishonesty and other faults.

The Church believes that the Holy Spirit is present in today's world, challenging human pride and aggression which cause conflict, and offering strength, security and peace to those who become followers of Jesus Christ [20].

So, the Church of Scotland is a mainstream Protestant Christian church, but it has developed its own authentic and individual character. It's Presbyterian in its structure and is one of the Reformation Churches according its believes. In the 18^th or 19^th centuries the Church has suffered disruption which led to the formation of new Scottish churches.

2.3 The Church of Ireland

The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion, operating seamlessly across the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Like other Anglican churches, it considers itself to be both Catholic and Reformed.

When the Church in England broke with the Pope and communion with the Roman Catholic Church, the Church in Ireland likewise underwent reformation, with those adhering to the new rules becoming the State Church and holding possession of official Church property, even as doctrine was changed, while the majority of the population remained loyal to the Roman Catholic Church and continue to do so to this day. As the reformed Church of Ireland took possession of practically all official Church property, it retained and retains a great repository of religious architecture and other items.

Despite its numerical minority, however, the Church of Ireland remained the official state church until it was disestablished on 1 January 1871, by the Liberal government under William Gladstone.

Today the Church of Ireland is, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest church in the island of Ireland. It is governed by a General Synod of clergy and laity and organized into twelve dioceses. It is led by the Archbishop of Armagh (styled «Primate of All Ireland«), at present the Most Reverend Dr Alan Harper; the church's other archbishop is the Most Reverend Dr Archbishop of Dublin John Neill [8, p. 290].

History

The Church of Ireland traces its origins back to the missions of Saint Patrick. As a monastically-centered institution, the early Celtic Church of Ireland had a unique calendar and usages, but was a full part of the wider Western Church, but with links to the Coptic and Syriac churches.

In 1166, basing his action on the Papal Bull Laudabiliter, which was claimed to give him lordship over Ireland, Henry II of England came to Ireland and in 1171 made himself «Overlord» of Ireland.

In 1536, during the Reformation, Henry VIII had the Irish Parliament declare him head of the Irish Church. When the Church of England was reformed under Edward VI so too did the Church of Ireland. All but two of the Irish bishops accepted the Elizabethan Settlement and there is continuity and Apostolic succession in the Church of Ireland, separate from that of the Church of England and the doubts raised by the consecration of Matthew Parker as archbishop of Canterbury.

The established church in Ireland underwent a period of more radical Calvinist doctrine than occurred in England. James Usher (later Archbishop of Armagh) authored the Irish Articles, adopted in 1615. In 1634 the Irish Convocation adopted the English Thirty-Nine Articles alongside the Irish Articles. After the Restoration of 1660, it seems that the Thirty-Nine Articles took precedence, and remain the official doctrine of the Church of Ireland even after disestablishment.

The Church of Ireland undertook the first publication of Scripture in Irish. The first Irish translation of the New Testament was begun by Nicholas Walsh, Bishop of Ossory, who worked on it until his untimely death in 1585. The work was continued by John Kearny, his assistant, and Dr. Nehemiah Donellan, Archbishop of Tuam, and it was finally completed by William O'Domhnuill (William Daniell, Archbishop of Tuam in succession to Donellan). Their work was printed in 1602. The work of translating the Old Testament was undertaken by William Bedell (1571-1642), Bishop of Kilmore, who completed his translation within the reign of Charles I, although it was not published until 1680 (in a revised version by Narcissus Marsh (1638-1713), Archbishop of Dublin). William Bedell had undertaken a translation of the Book of Common Prayer in 1606. An Irish translation of the revised prayer book of 1662 was effected by John Richardson (1664 - 1747) and published in 1712.

The English-speaking minority mostly adhered to the Church of Ireland or to Presbyterianism and the Irish-speaking majority remained faithful to the Latin liturgy of Roman Catholicism, which remained the majority denomination in Ireland.

As before the Reformation, some clergymen of the Church of Ireland sat as Lords Spiritual in the Irish House of Lords; under the provisions of the Act of Union 1800, one archbishop and three bishops chosen by rotation would be Lords Spiritual in the newly united United Kingdom House of Lords in Westminster, joining the two archbishops (Canterbury and York) and the twenty-four bishops from the Church of England.

In 1833 the British Government proposed the Irish Church Measure to reduce the 22 archbishops and bishops who oversaw the Anglican minority in Ireland to a total of 12 by amalgamating sees and to use the revenues saved for the use of parishes. This sparked the Anglo-Catholic movement and had wide repercussions in the Anglican Communion.

As the official established church, the Church of Ireland was funded partially by tithes imposed on all Irish citizens, irrespective of the fact that it counted only a minority of the populace among its adherents; these were a source of much resentment which occasionally boiled over, as in the «Tithe War« of 1831-36. Eventually, the tithes were ended, replaced with a lower levy called the tithe rent charge. The Irish Church Disestablishment Act 1869 came into effect in 1871 and ended the role of the Church of Ireland as state church. This terminated both state support and parliamentary authority over its governance, and taking into government ownership much church property. Compensation was provided to clergy, but many parishes faced great difficulty in local financing after the loss of rent-generating lands and buildings. The Church of Ireland made provision in 1870 for its own government, led by the General Synod, and financial management by the Representative Church Body. With disestablishment, the last remnant of tithes was abolished and the church's representation in the House of Lords also ceased.

Like other Irish churches, the Church of Ireland did not divide when Ireland was partitioned in 1920, and continues to be governed on an all-island basis [6, p. 137-138].

The Church today

The contemporary Church of Ireland, despite having a number of High Church (often described as Anglo-Catholic) parishes, is generally on the Low Church end of the spectrum of world Anglicanism. Historically, it had little of the difference in churchmanship between parishes characteristic of other Anglican Provinces, although a number of markedly liberal, High Church or evangelical parishes have developed in recent decades. It was the second province of the Anglican Communion after the Anglican Church of New Zealand (1857) to adopt, on its 1871 disestablishment, synodical government, and was one of the first provinces to ordain women to the priesthood, in 1991.

The Church of Ireland has two cathedrals in Dublin: within the walls of the old city is Christ Church Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of Dublin, and just outside the old walls is St. Patrick's Cathedral, which the church designated as a National Cathedral for Ireland in 1870. Cathedrals also exist in the other dioceses. The church operates a seminary, the Church of Ireland Theological College, in Rathgar, in the south inner suburbs of Dublin, and the church's central offices are in Rathmines, adjacent to the Church of Ireland College of Education.

Membership

The Church of Ireland experienced major decline during the 20th century, both in Northern Ireland, where 75percent of its members live, and in the Republic of Ireland. However, the Church of Ireland in the Republic has shown substantial growth in the last two national censuses and its membership is now backing to the levels of sixty years ago. This is perhaps partly explained by the number of Anglican immigrants who have moved to Ireland recently. Some parishes, especially in middle-class areas of the larger cities, report significant numbers of Roman Catholics joining. A number of clergy originally ordained in the Roman Catholic Church have now become Church of Ireland clergy and many former Roman Catholics also put themselves forward for ordination after they have become members of the Church of Ireland.

The 2006 Census in the Republic of Ireland showed that the numbers of people describing themselves as members of the Church of Ireland increased in every county. The highest percentage growth was in the west (Counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon) and the largest numerical growth was in the mid-east region (Wicklow, Kildare and Meath). Co Wicklow is the county with the highest proportion of Church of Ireland members (6.88%) and Greystones Co. Wicklow has the highest proportion of any town (9.77%) [19].

Structure

The polity of the Church of Ireland is Episcopalian church governance, which is the same as other Anglican churches. The church maintains the traditional structure dating to pre-Reformation times, a system of geographical parishes organized into dioceses. There are twelve of these, each headed by a bishop. The leader of the five southern bishops is the Archbishop of Dublin; that of the seven northern ones the Archbishop of Armagh; these are styled Primate of Ireland and Primate of All Ireland respectively, suggesting the ultimate seniority of the latter; although he has relatively little absolute authority, the archbishop of Armagh is respected as the church's general leader and spokesman, and is elected in a process different from those for all other bishops.

Canon law and church policy are decided by the church's General Synod, and changes in policy must be passed by both the House of Bishops and the House of Representatives (Clergy and Laity). Important changes, e.g. the decision to ordain female priests, must be passed by two-thirds majorities. While the House of Representatives always votes publicly, often by orders, the House of Bishops has tended to vote in private, coming to a decision before matters reach the floor of the Synod. This practice has been broken only once, when in 1999 the House of Bishops voted unanimously in public to endorse the efforts of the Archbishop of Armagh, the Diocese of Armagh and the Standing Committee of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland in their attempts to resolve the crisis at the Church of the Ascension at Drumcree, near Portadown.

Doctrine and practice

The center of the Church of Ireland's teaching is the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The basic teachings of the church, or catechism, include:

a) Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God. He died and was resurrected from the dead.

b) Jesus provides the way of eternal life for those who believe.

c) The Old and New Testaments of the Bible were written by people «under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit». The Apocrypha are additional books that are used in Christian worship, but not for the formation of doctrine.

d) The two great and necessary sacraments are Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist.

e) Other sacramental rites are confirmation, ordination, marriage, reconciliation of a penitent, and unction.

f) Belief in heaven, hell, and Jesus' return in glory.

The threefold sources of authority in Anglicanism are scripture, tradition, and reason. These three sources uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way. This balance of scripture, tradition and reason is traced to the work of Richard Hooker, a sixteenth century apologist. In Hooker's model, scripture is the primary means of arriving at doctrine and things stated plainly in scripture are accepted as true. Issues that are ambiguous are determined by tradition, which is checked by reason [15].

So, the Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion which considers itself to be both Catholic and Reformed. The contemporary Church has a number of High Church or evangelical parishes, its own membership and structure, doctrine and practice. Today the Church of Ireland is, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second largest Church in the island of Ireland.

2.4 The Church in Wales

The Church in Wales (Welsh: Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is a member Church of the Anglican Communion, consisting of six dioceses in Wales. Like all Anglican churches, it recognizes the primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who does not however have any formal authority in Wales. The Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the church's six diocesan bishops; currently, the Most Rev Dr Barry Morgan is both Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Llandaff. Once the state Church disestablishment was effected in 1920. This means that, unlike England, Wales no longer has a state Church.

The Church in Wales (Welsh: Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) adopted its name rather by accident. The Welsh Church Act 1914 had referred throughout to «the Church in Wales», the phrase being used to indicate the part of the Church of England in Wales. A Convention of the Welsh Church in 1920 considered what name to use, and tended to favour «the Church of Wales», but there were fears that adopting a name different from that given by the Act might cause serious legal problems. Given the situation, it did not seem sensible to invite even more problems at that point, and so «the Church in Wales» was allowed to stand [20].

History

Christianity in Wales can be traced back to the Romano-British period. Wales became a refuge for other Brythons following the pagan Anglo-Saxon invasion of what became England, so much so that the Welsh refused to co-operate with Augustine of Canterbury`s mission to the Anglo-Saxons. However, a combination of Celtic Christianity`s reconciliation with Rome and Medieval English conquest of Wales meant that from the Middle Ages until 1920, the Welsh dioceses were part of the Province of Canterbury in communion with the See of Rome until the Reformation, and continuing afterwards as part of the Church of England. From the time of Henry VIII, Wales had been absorbed into England as a legal entity and the Established Church in Wales was the Church of England.

During the 19th century nonconformist churches grew rapidly in Wales, so much so that, eventually, the majority of Welsh Christians were nonconformist, although the Church of England remained the largest single religious denomination.

At the beginning of the 20th century, under the influence of nonconformist politicians such as David Lloyd George, the Welsh Church Act 1914 was passed by the Liberal Government 1905-1915 to separate the Anglican Church in Wales from the Church of England. The bill was fiercely resisted by the Conservatives, and blocked in the House of Lords, eventually being passed by the use of the Parliament Act. Welsh disestablishment was also a way of asserting a national identity.

The Act disestablished the «Church in Wales», the term used to define the part of the Church of England which was to be separated. Disestablishment meant the end of the Church's special legal status and Welsh bishops were no longer entitled to sit in the House of Lords as “Lords Spiritual”. Establishment had brought limitations as well as advantages. For example, priests of the Church of England were barred from sitting in the House of Commons, but this no longer applied to priests in Wales. The Church in Wales became independent of the state.

Disendowment, which was even more controversial, meant that the endowments of the Church in Wales were partially confiscated and redistributed to the University of Wales and local authorities. Endowments before 1662 were to be confiscated; those of later date were to be left. This was justified on the theory that the pre-1662 endowments were to a true National Church of the whole population, and hence belonged to the people as a whole rather than to the Church in Wales. This reasoning was hotly contested. The date 1662 was that of the Act of Uniformity following the Restoration; a case could be made that this was the point at which the Church of England ceased, or began to cease, to be a truly comprehensive national church and nonconformity began to develop.

The coming into effect of the Welsh Church Act 1914 was delayed by the outbreak of the First World War. The Church was split from the Church of England in 1920.

Parishes overlapping the border were allocated either to the Church in Wales or to the Church of England, with the result that the line of disestablishment is not exactly the same as the England--Wales border. A few districts in Monmouthshire and Radnorshire remain attached to parishes in the diocese of Hereford and consequently established. The Oswestry deanery was detached from the St. Asaph diocese. Today, the Church in Wales is fully independent of both the state and the Church of England, and is an independent member of the Anglican Communion like the Church of Ireland or the Scottish Episcopal Church.

The Church in Wales is currently undergoing numerous changes and debates, particularly in relation to the appointment of women to the episcopate, and the recognition by the province as a whole of the equality between Welsh and English in all parts of Church life [10, p. 127 - 129].

Structure

The polity of the Church in Wales is Episcopalian church governance, which is the same as other Anglican churches.

There are four Anglican dioceses in Wales which were part of the Province of Canterbury, prior to the creation of the Church in Wales, and each led by its own bishop:

– the Diocese of Bangor;

– the Diocese of St Asaph;

– the Diocese of St David's;

– the Diocese of Llandaff.

Two further dioceses have been created since the creation of the Church in Wales:

– the Diocese of Monmouth in 1921.

– the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon in 1923.

Diocesan bishops

Unlike bishops in the Church of England, each bishop of the Church in Wales is elected by an `Electoral College' which consists of representatives of the diocese seeking a new bishop, representatives of the other five dioceses in Wales and all the other Bishops of the Church in Wales. Currently the Church in Wales does not consecrate women as bishops; however this will be most likely put to a vote of the Governing Body in 2008. The Archbishop of Wales, the head of the Church in Wales, is elected by and from the six diocesan bishops and continues as a diocesan bishop after his election:

– the Most Revd Dr Barry Morgan - Bishop of Llandaff and Archbishop of Wales;

– the Right Revd John Davies - Bishop of St Asaph;

– the Right Revd Carl Cooper - Bishop of St David's;

– the Right Revd Dr Dominic Walker - Bishop of Monmouth;

– the Right Revd Anthony Crockett - Bishop of Bangor;

– rhe Very Revd John Davies - Bishop-designate of Swansea and Brecon.

The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams is the first Welsh-born Archbishop of Canterbury. He was consecrated and enthroned as Bishop of Monmouth in 1992, and Archbishop of Wales in 1999. He was appointed by the Queen (having been proposed by the Crown Appointments Commission) to be Archbishop of Canterbury in July 2002. He was succeeded as Bishop of Monmouth by the former Bishop of Reading, the Right Revd Dr Dominic Walker, and was succeeded as Archbishop of Wales by the Bishop of Llandaff, the Right Revd Dr Barry Morgan.

Assistant bishops

In addition to the six Diocesan Bishops, there are currently two Assistant Bishops within the Church. In 1996, the Church in Wales approved the ordination of women, and the Provincial Assistant Bishop was appointed to provide pastoral care for those who could not in good conscience accept the ordination of women. As in the Church of England, there are now many female priests and deacons in active ministry in the Church.

It is usual for the Archbishop to appoint an Assistant Bishop to help within the Archbishop's diocese. On becoming Archbishop, Dr. Barry Morgan appointed The Venerable David Yeoman as his Assistant Bishop.

Doctrine and practice

The center of teachings of the Church in Wales is the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The basic teachings of the church, or catechism, include:

a) Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God. He died and was resurrected from the dead.

b) Jesus provides the way of eternal life for those who believe.

c) The Old and New Testaments of the Bible were written by people «under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit». The Apocrypha are additional books that are used in Christian worship, but not for the formation of doctrine.

d) The two great and necessary sacraments are Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist.

e) Other sacramental rites are confirmation, ordination, marriage, reconciliation of a penitent, and unction.

f) Belief in heaven, hell, and Jesus's return in glory.

The threefold sources of authority in Anglicanism are scripture, tradition, and reason. These three sources uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way. This balance of scripture, tradition and reason is traced to the work of Richard Hooker, a sixteenth century apologist. In Hooker's model, scripture is the primary means of arriving at doctrine and things stated plainly in scripture are accepted as true. Issues that are ambiguous are determined by tradition, which is checked by reason [15].

So, the Church in Wales is a member Church of the Anglican Communion, consisting of six dioceses in Wales, fully independent of both the state and the Church of England with its own structure, doctrine and practice.

3. Non-Christian Religions in Great Britain

3.1 Islam in the United Kingdom

Islam is the second largest religion in the United Kingdom with a total of 1,591,000, (or 2.8percent of the total population) Muslims. Most Muslims in Britain are immigrants from South Asia, in particular India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, or are descendants of immigrants from that area [16].

History

Although Islam is generally thought of as being a recent arrival in the United Kingdom, there has been contact between Britons and Muslims for many centuries. An early example would be the decision of Offa, the eighth-century King of Mercia (one of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms existing at that time), to have coins minted with an Islamic inscription on them - copies of coins issued by the near-contemporary Muslim ruler Al-Mansur. It is thought that they were minted to facilitate trade with the expanding Islamic empire in Spain.

Muslim scholarship, especially early Islamic philosophy and Islamic science, was well-known among the learned in England by 1386, when Chaucer was writing. In the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, there is among the pilgrims wending their way to Canterbury, a `Doctour of Phisyk' whose learning included Rhazes (al-Razi), Avicenna and Averroes. Ibn Sina's The Canon of Medicine was a standard text for medical students well into the 17th century.

The first English convert to Islam mentioned by name is John Nelson, a 16th century sailor. 16th century writer Richard Hakluyt claimed he was forced to convert, though he mentions in the same story other Englishmen who had converted willingly.

This king had a son which was a ruler in an island called Gerbi, whereunto arrived an English ship called the Green Dragon, of the which was master one M. Blonket, who, having a very unhappy boy on that ship, and understanding that whosoever would turn Turk should be well entertained of the king's son, this boy did run ashore and voluntarily turned Turk. The king had there before in his house a son of a yeoman of our Queen's guard, whom the king's son had enforced to turn Turk; his name was John Nelson.

Captain John Ward of Kent was one of a number of British sailors who became pirates based in the Maghreb who also converted to Islam (see also Barbary pirates. Later, some Unitarians became interested in the faith, and Henry Stubbes wrote so favourably about Islam that it is thought he too had converted to the faith.

In 1625 it was reported that Lundy, an island in the Bristol Channel which had been a pirate lair for much of the previous half century, had been occupied by three Turkish pirates who were threatening to burn Ilfracombe; Algerine rovers were using the island as a base in 1635, although the island had itself been attacked and plundered by a Spanish raid in 1633.

The Muslim Moors had a noticeable influence on the works of George Peele and William Shakespeare. Some of their works featured Moorish characters, such as Peele's The Battle of Alcazar and Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Titus Andronicus and Othello, which featured a Moorish Othello as its title character. These works are said to have been inspired by several Moorish delegations from Morocco to Elizabethan England at the beginning of the 17th century.

Besides scientific and philosophical works, a number of Arabic fictional works were also translated into Latin and English during the 17th and 18th centuries. The most famous one was the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights). The practice of Islam in Britain was legalized by the Trinitarian Act 1812 [13, p. 67-69].

Immigration

The first large group of Muslims in Britain arrived about 300 years ago. They were sailors recruited in India to work for the East India Company, and so it's not surprising that the first Muslim communities were found in port towns. Ships' cooks came too, many of them from Sylhet in what is now Bangladesh. There are records of Sylhetis working in London restaurants as early as 1873.

The first Muslim community which permanently settled in the United Kingdom consisted of Yemeni sailors who arrived in ports such as Swansea, Liverpool and South Shields shortly after 1900. Later some of them migrated to inland cities like Birmingham and Sheffield where there are 23,819 Muslims.

Mosques also appeared in British seaports at this time; the first mosque in Britain is recorded as having been at 2 Glyn Rhondda Street, Cardiff, in 1860. From the 1950s, with large immigration to Britain from the former colonies of Britain, especially the Indian subcontinent and East Africa, large Muslim populations developed in many British towns and cities.

According to the 2001 census 1,536,015 Muslims are living in England and Wales, where they form 3% of the population, in Scotland they represent 0.84% of the population (42,557). The Northern Ireland census indicated 1,943 Muslims.

Migration after World War II

The mass migration to Britain of Pakistanis (including Bangladeshis) had its origin in colonialism. For example, many soldiers who joined the British army in the war were posted to the British Isles, and some of them began to settle there. Initially, however, their number was very small, until after the partition of India. Partition caused the displacement of large populations, especially in the Punjab and Mirpur (a significant sector of the populations who joined the British army), who then began to look to their future in Britain over a longer term. The second important factor which contributed to migration was the construction of the Mangla Dam in Pakistan. This, in effect, displaced 100,000 people, especially the Mirpuris. With their compensation money, some settled in other parts of Pakistan; others, however, looked for the sponsorship of their relatives in Britain and subsequently settled there in large numbers. Their initial intent was to earn enough money to buy a plot of land and build houses for their families and settle in Pakistan. The rapid increase in demand for unskilled labour in British industries also occasioned large scale migration, the pattern being the same as for the Punjabis or Mirpuris, namely, sponsorship and initial help have tended towards single males, who share houses and work long hours, and then visit families and friends at home for a long break, usually every year or two.

The economic climate in post-war Britain changed rapidly. There were fewer jobs and opportunities for people compared with the early 1950s. Inevitably, the government began to restrict migrant workers and in 1961, the commonwealth Immigration Act was passed which came into force the following year. Arguably, this Act was the turning point in the growth of the Muslim population in Britain. The eighteen month long gap between the passing of the Immigration Act and its enforcement provided time for reflection for those who were working in Britain: did they want to return to their country of origin, or make Britain their home? Basically, the Act imposed restrictions on adults intending to work in Britain. By 1964, the Ministry of Labour stopped granting permission for the unskilled to work in Britain. The impact of this legislation was such that each single male who had formerly shared a house with others, now began looking for houses for their families in a nearby neighbourhood. Once their families arrived, the immediate concern of the parents was for their children. They wanted to impart religious education by teaching the Qur'an, basic beliefs and the practices of Islam to their children. This meant allocating a house for their children's education in the neighbourhood and using the same house for the five daily prayers. Muslim dietary laws saw the development of halal butcher shops and the import of Asian spices. This also gave birth to the Asian corner shops in Britain. In this way, the growth of the Muslim neighbourhood had begun.