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Church of England Faces New Pressures Toward Disestablishment

By Howard Friedman

The influential British magazine, The Economist, last week called for disestablishing the Church of England. In an editorial titled Sever Them, it says in part:

England has an established church whose authority has been intertwined with the state's for five centuries.... The queen is its head; Parliament approves its prayer book; and only last year did the prime minister relinquish the right to select its bishops, 25 of whom sit in the House of Lords.... It makes no sense in a pluralistic society to give one church special status. Nor does it make sense, in a largely secular country, to give special status to all faiths. The point of democracies is that the public arena is open to all groups?religious, humanist or football fans. The quality of the argument, not the quality of the access to power, is what matters. And citizens, not theocrats, choose.... Disestablishing the Church of England does not mean that it has no public role to play.... Let religion compete in the marketplace for ideas, not seek shelter behind special privileges.

Spero News carries an article commenting upon The Economist editorial. Meanwhile Sunday's London Telegraph reported that senior bishops in the Church of England fear that last year's decision (referred to by The Economist) giving the General Synod of the Church more power in selecting bishops could lead to disestablishment. Prime Minister Gordon Brown agreed to give up the government's role in the selection of bishops. Traditionally the Prime Minister would choose between two names presented to him by the Church's Crown Nominations Commission. A recent a survey of the General Synod found that 63% of its members think disestablishment will come within a generation.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on February 19, 2008 (boomark / email).