Christianity in The United Kingdom - Abrahamic - Christianity - Protestantism

Protestantism

See also: Religion in Scotland and Church of Scotland

In Scotland the presbyterian Church of Scotland (known informally as The Kirk), is recognised as the national church. It is not subject to state control and the British monarch is an ordinary member, required to swear an oath to "maintain and preserve the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Government" upon his or her accession. Splits in the Church of Scotland, especially in the 19th century, led to the creation of various other Presbyterian churches in Scotland, including the Free Church of Scotland, which claims to be the constitutional continuator of the Church in Scotland and was founded in 1843. The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland was formed in 1893 by some who left the Free Church over alleged weakening of her position and likewise claims to be the spiritual descendant of the Scottish Reformation. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales was founded in the late 1980s and declared themselves to be a Presbytery in 1996. They currently have ten churches. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is the largest Protestant denomination and second largest church in Northern Ireland. The Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster was founded on 17 March 1951 by the cleric and politician, Ian Paisley. It has about 60 churches in Northern Ireland. The Presbyterian Church of Wales seceded from the Church of England in 1811 and formally formed itself into a separate body in 1823. The Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland has 31 congregations in Northern Ireland, with the first Presbytery being formed in Antrim in 1725.

The United Reformed Church (URC), a union of Presbyterian and Congregational churches, consists of about 1,500 congregations in England, Scotland and Wales. There are about 600 Congregational churches in the United Kingdom. In England there are three main groups, the Congregational Federation, the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches, and about 100 Congregational churches that are loosely federated with other congregations in the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, or are unaffiliated. In Scotland the churches are mostly member of the Congregational Federation and in Wales which traditionally has a larger number of Congregationalists, most are members of the Union of Welsh Independents.

The Methodist movement traces its origin to the evangelical awakening in the 18th century. The Methodist Church of Great Britain, (which includes congregations in the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Malta and Gibraltar) has around 290,000 members and 5,900 churches, though only around 3,000 members in 50 congregations are in Scotland. In the 1960s, it made ecumenical overtures to the Church of England, aimed at church unity. Formally, these failed when they were rejected by the Church of England's General Synod in 1972. However, conversations and co-operation continued, leading on 1 November 2003 to the signing of a covenant between the two churches. The Methodist Church in Ireland covers the whole of the island of Ireland, including Northern Ireland where it is the fourth largest denomination.

The Baptist Union of Great Britain, despite its name, covers just England and Wales. There is a separate Baptist Union of Scotland and the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland is an all-Ireland organisation. The Britain Yearly Meeting is the umbrella body for the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Isles and the Isle of Man. There are 25,000 worshippers with about 400 local meetings. Northern Ireland comes under the umbrella of the Ireland Yearly Meeting. The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christian and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom. The Unitarian Christian Association was formed in 1991. Other denominations and groups include The Salvation Army, founded in 1865, Plymouth Brethren, Newfrontiers,

Assemblies of God in Great Britain are part of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship with over 600 churches in Great Britain. Assemblies of God Ireland cover the whole of the island of Ireland, including Northern Ireland. The Apostolic Church commenced in the early part of the 20th century in South Wales and now has over 110 churches across the United Kingdom. Elim Pentecostal Church now has over 500 churches across the United Kingdom.

There is also a growing number of independent, charismatic churches that encourage Pentecostal practices as part of their worship. These are broadly grouped together as the British New Church Movement and could number up to 400,000 members. The phenomenon of immigrant churches and congregations that began with the arrival of the SS Empire Windrush from the West Indies in 1948 stands as a unique trend. West Indian congregations that started from this time include the Church of God, New Testament Assembly and New Testament Church of God.

Africans began to arrive in the early 1980s and established their own congregations. Foremost among these are Matthew Ashimolowo from Nigeria and his Kingsway International Christian Centre in London that may be the largest church in Western Europe.

Latin American congregations such as Brazilian and Spanish-speaking churches were planted in the nineties, many of which were initially satellite churches of Kensington Temple.

Korean churches also sprang up especially in New Malden, Surrey, where there is a large and growing community of South Koreans.

Jehovah's Witnesses, which in 2011 had 135,823 publishers in the United Kingdom, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Seventh Day Baptists.