Religion in England - Abrahamic Religions - Christianity

Christianity

Christian denominations in the UK

UK Interchurch Affinity Churches Together in Britain & Ireland Evangelical Alliance, UK Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches Churches Together in England Action of Churches Together, Scotland (ACTS) Associating Evangelical Churches of Wales • site Churches Together in Wales Evangelical Movement of Wales Anglican Church of England Free Church of England Church of Ireland Scottish Episcopal Church Church in Wales Baptist Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland Baptist Union of Great Britain Baptist Union of Scotland Baptist Union of Wales Grace Baptist Assembly Old Baptist Union Catholic Roman Catholicism England & Wales Ireland Scotland Old Catholicism British Old Catholic Church • site Old Catholic Church in Europe Old Catholic Mariavite Church Old Catholic Church of Great Britain Holiness & Pietist Christian Outreach Centre Church of the Nazarene British Moravian Church Salvation Army Seventh-day Adventist Church Wesleyan Holiness Church Lutheran Evangelical Lutheran Church of England Lutheran Church in Great Britain Methodist & Wesleyan Free Methodist of the UK Methodist Church of Great Britain Methodist Church in Ireland Wesleyan Reform Union New Church Movement Vineyard Churches UK Ichthus Christian Fellowship Newfrontiers Pioneer Church • site Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of G.B. Russian Orthodox Diocese, G.B. & Ire. Russian Tradition Vicariate, G.B. & Ire. Oriental Orthodox Church British Orthodox Church Celtic Orthodox Church Pentecostal Assemblies of God Church of God in Christ Elim Pentecostal Church Foursquare Gospel Church Worldwide Church of God Presbyterian & Reformed Asso. Presbyterian Churches, Scotland Church of Scotland Congregational Federation Evangelical Presbyterian Church Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster Non-subscribing Presbyterian, Ireland Presbyterian Church in Ireland Presbyterian Church of Wales Reformed Presbyterian Church United Free Church of Scotland United Reformed Church Other Brethren in Christ Churches of Christ Fellowship of Ind. Evangelical Churches LDS Church Quakers/ Britain Yearly Meeting Quakers/ Ireland Yearly Meeting

Further information: Early Insular Christianity, Anglo-Saxon Christianity, and History of the Church of England

Christianity was first introduced through the Romans (English mythology links the introduction of Christianity to England to the Glastonbury legend of Joseph of Arimathea; see also the legend of Saint Lucius). Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. The Romano-British population after the withdrawal of the Roman legions was mostly Christian.

The arrival of the Anglo-Saxons introduced Anglo-Saxon polytheism to what is now England.

Christianity was re-introduced into England through missionaries from Scotland and from Continental Europe; the era of St Augustine (the first Archbishop of Canterbury) and the Celtic Christian missionaries in the north (notably St. Aidan and St. Cuthbert). The Synod of Whitby in 664 ultimately led to the English Church being fully part of Roman Catholicism. Early English Christian documents surviving from this time include the 7th-century illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels and the historical accounts written by the Venerable Bede.

Norman nobles and bishops had influence before the Norman Conquest of 1066, and Norman influences affected late Anglo-Saxon architecture. Edward the Confessor was brought up in Normandy, and in 1042 brought masons to work on Westminster Abbey, the first Romanesque building in England. The cruciform churches of Norman architecture often had deep chancels and a square crossing tower which has remained a feature of English ecclesiastical architecture. Hundreds of parish churches were built and the first great English cathedrals. England has many early cathedrals, most notably York Minster (1080), Durham Cathedral (1093) and Salisbury Cathedral (1220). After a fire damaged Canterbury Cathedral in 1174 Norman masons introduced the new Gothic architecture. Around 1191 Wells Cathedral and Lincoln Cathedral brought in the English Gothic style.

Pope Innocent III placed the kingdom of England under an interdict for seven years between 1208 and 1215 after King John refused to accept the pope's appointee as Archbishop of Canterbury.

In 1536, the Church in England split from Rome over the issue of the divorce (technically, the marriage annulment) of King Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon. The split led to the emergence of a separate ecclesiastical authority. Later the influence of the Reformation resulted in the Church of England adopting its distinctive reformed Catholic position known as Anglicanism. For more detail of this period see the following articles:

• Timeline of the English Reformation
• Act of Supremacy (1534): declared that Henry VIII was 'the only supreme head on earth of the Church in England' and required the nobility to swear an oath recognising Henry's supremacy.
• Six Articles (1539): although the organisation of the church in England was reformed, the articles reaffirmed Catholic doctrine.
• Book of Common Prayer and Book of Common Order
• Prayer Book Rebellion
• Catholic martyrs of the English Reformation
• Marian Persecutions and Marian exiles: during the re-establishment of Roman Catholicism in England under Mary I, some Protestants were persecuted and some upheld their faith in exile.
• Elizabethan Religious Settlement: under Elizabeth I political and religious stability was maintained by means of a compromise in both doctrine and practice between the Anglicanism of Henry VIII and that of Edward VI
  • Act of Supremacy 1559: restored religious affairs in England to the state at the death of Edward VI, and imposed the Oath of Supremacy on those holding office.
  • Thirty-Nine Articles (1563): the defining statements of Anglican doctrine were made a legal requirement in England in 1571 and were imposed by the Test Act of 1673 (until 1824)
  • Regnans in Excelsis
• Priest hole: wealthy Roman Catholics constructed hiding places in their houses for priests.
• James I of England and religious issues
  • Gunpowder Plot: in 1605 an attempt to assassinate King James VI and I and the Protestant establishment entrenched anti-Catholic sentiment.
  • King James Bible
• The Vicar of Bray: the changes of political and religious régime required office holders to show flexibility in their declared convictions, as satirised in the popular song The Vicar of Bray.
• Westminster Assembly (1643): appointed by the Long Parliament to restructure the Church of England, drew up the Westminster Confession of Faith (which became, and remains, the 'subordinate standard' of doctrine in the Church of Scotland and has been influential within Presbyterian churches worldwide.)
• 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith: written by Calvinistic Baptists in England to give a formal expression of the Reformed and Protestant Christian faith with an obvious Baptist perspective.
• Royal Declaration of Indulgence (1672): Charles II attempted to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists in his realms.
• Declaration of Indulgence (1687–1688): James II attempted to establish freedom of religion in England.
  • Seven Bishops: bishops of the Church of England who petitioned James II against the Declaration of Indulgence were imprisoned.
• Popish Plot (1678–1681): a conspiracy to discredit Catholics in England accused Catholics of plotting.
• Exclusion Bill: sought to exclude the Charles II's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the throne of England because he was Catholic.
• Penal law: a specific series of laws that sought to uphold the establishment of the Church of England against Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics, by imposing various forfeitures, civil penalties, and civil disabilities upon these dissenters.
  • Test Act: required a religious test of officials to ensure conformity with the established church.
  • Act of Uniformity 1662: required the use of all the rites and ceremonies in the Book of Common Prayer in Church of England services, and episcopal ordination for all ministers.
  • Conventicle Act 1664: forbade religious assemblies of more than five people outside the auspices of the Church of England.
  • Five Mile Act 1665: forbade clergymen from living within five miles (8 km) of a parish from which they had been banned
• Nonjuring schism: the Anglican Church split in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, over whether William of Orange could legally be recognized as King of England.

Today, the Church of England is the established church in England. It regards itself as in continuity with the pre-Reformation state Catholic church, (something the Roman Catholic Church does not accept), but has been a distinct Anglican church since the settlement under Elizabeth I (with some disruption during the 17th-century Commonwealth period). British Monarch is formally Supreme Governor of the Church of England, but its spiritual leader is the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is regarded by convention as the head of the worldwide communion of Anglican Churches (see Anglican Communion). In practice the Church of England is governed by the General Synod, under the authority of Parliament. The Church of England's mission to spread the Gospel has seen the establishment of many churches in the Anglican Communion throughout the world particularly in the Commonwealth of Nations.

There is another Anglican Church in England - the Free Church of England - which separated from the Church of England in the 19th century, out of concern that the Established Church was re-introducing Roman Catholic dogmas and practices. The Church of England recognises the Orders of the Free Church of England as valid. The Free Church of England is in communion with the Reformed Episcopal Church in the United States and Canada.

The English Church was heavily influenced by Rome from the arrival of St Augustine of Canterbury who arrived in AD 588, until the final break with Roman control at the accession of Queen Elizabeth I in 1558.

The early years of the UK were difficult for English adherents of the Roman Catholic Church, although the persecution was not violent as they had experienced in the recent past, for instance under the Popery Act 1698, that affected adherents in England and Wales. The civil rights of adherents to Roman Catholicism were severely curtailed, and there was no longer, as once in Stuart times, any Catholic presence at court, in public life, in the military or professions. Many of the Catholic nobles and gentry who had preserved on their lands among their tenants small pockets of Catholicism had followed James II into exile, and others at last conformed to Anglicanism, meaning that only very few such Catholic communities survived.

In the late 18th and early 19th century most restrictions on Catholic participation in public life were relaxed under acts such as the Papists Act 1778, Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 and Catholic Relief Act 1829. This process of Catholic Emancipation met violent opposition in the Gordon Riots of 1780 in London. In the 1840s and 1850s, especially during the Great Irish Famine, while the bulk of the large outflow of emigration from Ireland was headed to the United States, thousands of poor Irish people also moved to England, establishing communities in cities and towns up and down the country such as London and Liverpool, thus giving Catholicism a huge numerical boost. In 1850, the Catholic Church in England and Wales re-established a hierarchy.

Recently, the rights of Catholics were restored even further with the allowing of the spouses of Royals to be Catholic. Daniel O'Connell was the first Catholic member of Parliament. Since then, there have been several Catholic Members of Parliament.

A strong tradition of Methodism developed from the 18th century onwards. The Methodist revival was started in England by a group of men including John Wesley and his younger brother Charles as a movement within the Church of England, but developed as a separate denomination after John Wesley's death.

Pentecostal churches are continuing to grow and, in terms of church attendance, are now third after the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. There are three main denomination of Pentecostal churches;

• Assemblies of God in Great Britain are part of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship.
• Apostolic Church.
• Elim Pentecostal Church.

The is also a growing number of independent, charismatic churches that encourage Pentecostal practices at part of their worship, such as Kingsgate Community Church in Peterborough which started with 9 people in 1988 and now has a congregation in excess of 1,500.

The Salvation Army dates back to 1865, when it was founded in East London by William and Catherine Booth. Its international headquarters are still in London, near St Paul's Cathedral.

There is one Mennonite congregation in England, the Wood Green Mennonite Church in London.

Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is a small society of evangelical churches, founded in 1783, which today has 23 congregations in England.

There are various Russian Orthodox groups in England. In 1962, Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh founded and was for many years bishop, archbishop then metropolitan bishop of the diocese of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh, the Russian Orthodox Moscow Patriarchate's diocese for Great Britain and Ireland. It is the most numerous Russian Orthodox group in the country. There are also the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia churches as well as some churches and communities belonging to the Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe's Episcopal Vicariate in the UK.

Most Greek Orthodox Church parishes fall under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, based in London and led by Gregorios, the Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain. Created in 1932, it is the diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople that covers England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland as well as Malta. A Greek Orthodox community already existed at the time the UK was formed, worshipping in the Imperial Russian Embassy in London. However, it was another 130 years until an autonomous community was set up in Finsbury Park in London, in 1837. The first new church was built in 1850, on London Street in the City. In 1882, St Sophia Cathedral was constructed in London, in order to cope with the growing influx of Orthodox immigrants. By the outbreak of World War I, there were large Orthodox communities in London, Manchester and Liverpool, each focused on its own church. World War II and its aftermath also saw a large expansion amongst the Orthodox Communities.

Today, there are seven churches bearing the title of Cathedral in London as well as in Birmingham (the Dormition of the Mother of God and St Andrew) and Leicester. In addition to these, there are eighty-one churches and other places where worship is regularly offered, twenty-five places (including University Chaplaincies) where the Divine Liturgy is celebrated on a less regular basis, four chapels (including that of the Archdiocese), and two monasteries. As is traditional within the Orthodox Church, the bishops have a considerable degree of autonomy within the Archdiocese.

The Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas in Toxteth, Liverpool, was built in 1870. It is an enlarged version of St Theodore's church in Constantinople and is a Grade II Listed building.

The Antiochian Orthodox Church have the St. George's Cathedral in London and a number of parishes across England.

As well as the Russian and Greek Orthodox churches, there are also the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church all in London as well as a non-canonical Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in Manchester.

All Coptic Orthodox parishes fall under the jurisdiction of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Pope of Alexandria. The Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom is divided into three main parishes: Ireland, Scotland and North England; the Midlands and its affiliated areas; and South Wales. In addition, there is one Patriarchal Exarchate at Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Most British converts belong to the British Orthodox Church, which is canonically part of the Coptic Orthodox Church. There is also the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in London. There is also the Armenian Apostolic Church in London.

Saint George is recognised as the patron saint of England, although prior to Edward III, St Edmund was recognised as England's patron saint, and the flag of England consists of the cross of St George. However, Saint Alban is venerated by some as England's first Christian martyr.