The Church of Scotland

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 395.

The Church of England

The established Church of England's relationship with the State is one of mutual obligation: privileges accorded to the Church are balanced by certain duties which it must fulfil. The Sovereign must always be a member of the Church and promises to uphold it; Church of England archbishops, bishops and deans are appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minis­ter; all clergy take on oath of allegiance to the Crown.

The Church has two provinces: Canterbury, comprising 30 dioceses (including the Diocese of Europe) and York, 14 dio­ceses. The Archbishop of Canterbury is 'Primate of all England', and the Archbishop of York 'Primate of England'.

Attendances at services on a normal Sunday are around 1-2 million. Many people who rarely, if ever, attend services, nev­ertheless regard themselves as Church members (amounting per­haps to some 60 per cent of the population).

The Church of Scotland has a presbyterian form of gov­ernment. Its status as the national church derives from the Treaty of Union (1707) and the Church of Scotland Act (1921) which confirmed its complete freedom in all spiritual matters. It appoints its own officers, and its decisions on questions of doctrine and discipline are not subject to parliamentary discussion or modifi­cation.

All ministers have equal status, each of 1,805 churches being governed locally by the Kirk Session, consisting of the min­ister and the elected elders of the Church.

The adult membership of the Church of Scotland is estimated at almost 1 mln.