We noted last week that the Prime Minister had stated the Government’s intention to remove the bar on persons professing the Roman Catholic and Jewish faiths from advising the Sovereign on appointments to the Church of England and Church of Scotland. The parliamentary process to do this started yesterday when the Church Appointments (Repeal of Discriminatory Provision) Bill was given a first reading in the House of Commons.
The text of the bill and a set of explanatory notes have been published. There is also a press release.
Included in the explanatory notes is a statement that “The Government intends to ask Parliament to expedite the parliamentary progress of this Bill.” The progress of the bill through Parliament can be followed here.
Here are some relevant online articles.
[Some of these links have appeared in comments to other posts, but I thought it would be helpful to collect them all here.]
It would be better if he presented legislation to disestablish the CofE along with it.
I think the way our unwritten British Constitution works, the Church of England, the Monarchy, and the Union of the United Kingdom along with the Arrangements for the Church of Scotland which is a National Church but not established, if the Church of England was disestablished , the Church of Scotland would have to be de-nationalised with it , with both Churches taking their place among other Churches as equal partners with no special status. Britain would de-facto become a Secular State, and then it would be easy for pressure to mount for there to be a referendum on the… Read more »
What does denationalising the C of S look like? It already has complete autonomy over its affairs. Are C of S ministers obliged to baptise, marry anf bury their parishioners in the same way that C of E clergy are? Would denationalising the C of S relieve them of this duty?
The Church of Scotland sees itself as the Church of the Nation, and this does to a great exstent in Scotland, because of the History of the Reformation give the Church of Scotland a special status in Scotland. In this understanding the Scottish Episcopal Church as the Anglican Church in Scotland does not have a Parish system as such in the way the Church of England has a Parish System but Congregations. It is the Church of Scotland that has Parishes and the Minister of the Parish is referred to as the Parish Minister in the same way as a… Read more »
So what?
The CofE should take its place alongside other churches.
Britain already functions as a secular state in defacto terms.
As for the monarchy I’m not particularly wedded to it.
If people want to argue for republicanism they can do so although I don’t see why in principle there can’t be a monarchy without an established church.