Denomination. Religion. Church

Questions

1). How does the British constitution differ from the constitutions of many other countries?

2). What are three main sources of the British constitution?

3). What was the Magna Carta?

4). What were the Petition of Right and Habeas Corpus Act.

Questions

5). What is the second source of the British constitution?

6). What is Convention?

7). What names has the US Government got?

8). What are the main political parties in the USA and what are their symbols?

9). When is the US President elected and for what period?

10). What are the most important articles and amendments of the US Constitution?

11). What is the structure of the US Congress?

12).Who presides in the Senate and in the House of Reps?

13). Describe the process of filibuster in the American Senate.

Lecture 6.

Denomination.

Religion in the U.K.

Church.

The Christian Churches in Great Britain.

Other religions in the UK.

Density. Distribution.

Social Rates.

According to the denomination the overwhelming majority of the residents of Britain belong to the protestants, the rest forming the Catholic and Presbyterian minorities.

Only 17% of the adult population of Britain belong to one of the Christian churches, and this proportion continues to decline. There are regional variations with the marked tendency: the further from London, the greater the attendance. In England only 13 per cent of the adult population are members of a church, in Wales — 23 per cent, in Scotland — 37 per cent, and in Northern Ireland no fewer than 80%.

Today there is complete freedom of practice, regardless of religion or sect. But it was not always so. Until the mid 19^th century, those who did not belong to the Church of England, the official, «established» or state church, were barred from some public offices. The established Church still plays a powerful role in national life, in spite of the relatively small numbers of people, who are its active members.

There are two state Churches in Britain: the Church of England, or Anglican Church, and the Church of Scotland.

England was converted to Christianity in 597 A.D. when Roman Pope sent St. Augustine with about 40 monks to Britain to baptize King Ethelbert of Kent and so pave the way for the conversion of all England to Christianity.

They landed in Kent in the Saxon town of Canterbury — «the borough of the men of Kent», present Canterbury, which became the cradle of Christianity in Saxon England. Canterbury Cathedral, which was built in the same year and for 350 years was the destination of countless pilgrims, today is the Mother Church of Anglicans throughout the world.

In 1533 the English King, Henry VIII, had broken away from Rome and declared himself head of the Church of England (the protestant state church). Ever since 1534 the monarch has been Head of the Church of England. No one may take the throne who is not a member of the Church of England, which includes a wide variety of Protestant belief.' Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior spiritual leader of the Church of England and is Primate of All England. He is head of the Anglican «Communion*, composed of various independent churches which have grown out of the Church of England in various parts of the world.

There are other Christian Churches — the Free or Nonconformist Churches. They are distinguished by having no bishops or- «episcopacy» and they all admit both men and women to their ministry. The main ones among them are: the Methodist Union (450000 adult members); the Baptists (170000); the United Reformed Church (130000) and the Salvation Army (56000).

These all tend towards strong evangelicalism. In addition there are smaller groups and sects.

The Church of Scotland, unlike the Church of England, is subject neither to the Crown nor to Parliament, and takes pride in its independence from state authority, for which it fought in the 16* and 17^th centuries. Its churches are plain, there is no alter, only a table. The emphasis is on the pulpit, where the gospel is preached. The Church of Scotland is more democratic.

The Roman Catholic Church returned to Britain in 1850. The English Protestant prejudice that to be Catholic is to be «not quite English» has really disappeared in the past twenty-five years. Since 1850 the Roman Catholic Church has grown rapidly with about 5,7 mln members of whom 1,4 mln are regular attenders. Its senior English cleric is the Archbishop of Westminster.

Among other religions the oldest is Judaism. The Jewish community counts 300,000 members, of whom only 80000 are actual synagogue members. The Jewish community is aging and diminishing on account of assimilation and relatively low birth rate. The Jews are divided into different religious groups. The majority, about 200000 are Orthodox land belong to the United Synagogues.

There are also recently established religious groups: Hindus (1 mln), Buddhism, Muslims (1,5 mln) and Sikhs. Muslim community is the most important. There are over 1000 mosques and prayer centres, of which the most important (in all Western Europe) is the London Central Mosque at Regent's Park. About 900000 Muslims regularly attend these mosques.

The Church of England has always been closely identified with the ruling establishment and with authority. It used to be known as «the Tory Party at prayer*. And though it has been gradually distancing itself from the ruling establishment over the past twenty-five years, the Church of England remains overwhelmingly middle and upper class in its composition.

Most working-class people in England and Wales belong to the Nonconformist or «Free» Churches.

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