Church of England

The Church of England is part of a worldwide Communion of Anglican Churches, 38 in all. The four Anglican churches in the United Kingdom are the Church of England, the Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church, and the Church of Ireland (Northern Ireland).

The Church of England is the established church in England for the main reason that the ministers of the established church work in services run by the state, such as the armed forces, national hospitals and prisons, and may be paid a salary for such services by the State. Religious education in state schools is required by law, as is a daily collective worship.

The monarch is the 'Supreme Governor' of the Church of England and must always be a member of the Church. During the coronation ceremony, the monarch promises to protect the Church's position. All Anglican clergy, in their turn, take an oath of allegiance to the Crown. Archbishops, bishops and the deans of some Church of England cathedrals are appointed by The Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. Parliament also has a voice in the Church's organisation and rituals: the two archbishops of Canterbury and York, bishops of London, Durham and Winchester and twenty-one other senior bishops sit in the House of Lords and take part in the proceedings. The State helps the Church to repair historic churches but does not fund it. Thus, Church and Crown in England are closely entwined, with mutual bonds of responsibility.

Organisationally, the Church of England is divided into two geographical provinces of Canterbury and York, each headed by an Archbishop. The Archbishop of Canterbury (also called the 'Primate of all England') is regarded as senior to the Archbishop of York ('Primate of England') and is the professional head of the church. The two provinces are subdivided in 44 dioceses (Canterbury comprising 30 and York - 14), each under the control of a bishop. Many of the bishops' seats are very old and are situated in ancient cathedral towns, such as Lincoln, Durham, Salisbury and Chichester.

The senior bishops are those of London, Durham and Winchester, but there is no guarantee of promotion according to seniority. Dr. Rowan Williams, for instance, the present (104^th) Archbishop of Canterbury, was enthroned in February 2003. He is the first Welshman to be selected for this position in over 1,000 years.

Bishops, deans and archdeacons usually still wear 18^th-century style black gaiters. The bishop of a diocese is referred to as 'My Lord' and lives in an antique palace.

Every diocese has a cathedral as its central church. Each of the old cathedrals has a dean and a number of residentiary canons (collectively called the dean and chanter) that are responsible for the cathedral and its services. The canons normally live in elegant houses around the cathedral close.

The dioceses are divided into about 13,000 parishes - basic units of the Church's ministry, each of which is centred on a parish church. Most parishes are run by a priest (called either a vicar or a rector); large parishes may have an additional assistant priest (a curate). Before being ordained by the local bishop, a priest must first serve as a deacon for a year. A priest usually has rent-free accommodation in a vicarage (or a rectory), but does not receive a large salary (which today is paid out of central church funds).

Priests have therefore considerable freedom as to how they conduct their church services. Some priests have even introduced contemporary music and dramatic performances into their services, in order to appeal to young people and modern tastes. Today the priests are more and more involved in social issues and give practical help to many groups - from young people to the homeless.

The total membership of the Church of England is difficult to determine, as membership is usually assumed when a person is baptised into the church. It would seem that over half of the English population (23 million) has been baptised. This membership may be confirmed at 'confirmation', around the age of 14 or 15. It is estimated that only a fifth (or 9 million) have been confirmed. Attendance at services on a normal Sunday are around 1.1 million, however, many people who rarely, if ever, attend services (perhaps, half the population), still regard themselves as belonging to the Church of England.

The main financial resources of the Church come from its substantial property and investment holdings; it’s enough to say that the Church is the third largest landowner in Britain, after the Royal Family and the Forestry Commission. The Church Commissioners administer the total assets of the church, which have been estimated at over 400 million pounds.

The central governing body of the Church of England is the General Synod. It has not only spiritual authority but also legislative powers: in fact, it is the only organisation in the country, which can pass Measures that become national law if they are debated and passed by Parliament. The main work of the Synod, though, is church business, such as missionary work, inter-church relations, recruitment and training for the ministry and other matters like the question of women priests. After a long and heated debate, the first women priests were ordained in 1994. Women priests now can be appointed to all offices in the Church, except those of archbishop or bishop.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-11