Religion has played a huge part in forming the UK’s unique character; it is now a multi-faith society, comprising every religion, and many people who describe themselves as either atheist or agnostic.

However the UK is still a predominantly Christian country and the Church of England remains interwoven with the State. It was England’s split with Rome in 1534 that prompted an outbreak of almost continuous warfare between Europe’s other major powers, Spain and France, and saw Catholics demoted to the status of second class citizens, until the middle of the 19th century when they were finally given equal rights as citizens.

Since then religious beliefs have gradually declined along with trends in many parts of Western Europe. Most Brits nowadays only attend Church for weddings and funerals and the many hundreds of small parish churches up and down the country are rapidly being sold off to property developers and turned into nightclubs or luxury apartments, their classic neo-gothic architecture proving very popular.

But religion still holds a significant place in the structure of UK society. In a 2001 survey almost 71% of people questioned described themselves as Christians, but only 38% said that they believed in God. This should give you some idea of the rather odd relationship that has developed between the Church of England and its people.

The Church of England is still represented in government by the presence of Bishops in the House of Lords, all of whom have a right to vote on laws and legislation passed through the Houses of Parliament. The Supreme Governor of the Church is the Monarch (as of the summer 2010 this was Queen Elizabeth II) and the head of the church, The Archbishop of Canterbury, is still taken very seriously when he comments on social trends affecting the UK.

Religions in Britain

The Scottish church is Presbyterian and different to the Church of England, while the Welsh are historically more inclined to Methodism. Ireland is divided between the Roman Catholic Church and Protestantism that is closely tied to the Church of Scotland. There are many different strands of Christianity outside of the Church of England – Baptists, Methodists, and Evangelicals – who all used to be referred to collectively as Dissenters, back when religion still played a part in forming the political opinions of the British.

This is why you will often see more than one church in many small towns and villages across England and Wales. Usually the attractive parish church commonly associated with hymns, weddings and church bells, shares space along with more modern looking halls where the Dissenters would worship. They were also described as being either ‘High’ Church or ‘Low’ Church.

Catholicism is the second largest religion in the UK. Between 2005 -2008 it has been enjoying a big surge in attendances because of the arrival of an estimated 1.8 million workers from Poland, a devout Catholic country. Recent congregations have become so large that some priests have even been holding mass outside on the streets.

Other religions continue to flourish in the UK’s multi-faith society. Islam currently has around 1.6 million worshipers, followed by approximately 559.000 Hindus, 336.000 Sikhs, 267.000 Jews and 152.000 Buddhists. Additionally around 9.1 million people in the UK describe themselves as Atheist.

But when you are in the UK you will see plenty of churches, mosques, synagogues and temples all working side by side together for their respective communities. The UK prides itself as a tolerant nation and continues to encourage different faiths to freely practice their beliefs, and work together for the benefit of the country as a whole.

By John Hillman

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USEFUL WORDS

Name of Religion                  Place of Worship
Protestant / Anglican           Church
Roman Catholic                   Church
Jewish                                   Synagogue
Sikh                                        Temple
Hindu                                     Temple
Muslim                                   Temple
Buddhist                                Temple
Baptist                                    Church
Jehovah’s Witness              Kingdom Hall


Religious Terms

atheist = a person who believes that God does not exist
believer = a person who believes in a God or religious faith
follower = a person who supports or admires a particular person or set of ideas
clergy(man) = a male priest or minister in the Christian Church
congregation = a group of people who gather together in a church to practise a religion
priest = a person who is qualified to perform religious duties and ceremonies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox Churches
vicar = an Anglican priest who is in charge of a church and the area around it
bishop = a senior priest in charge of the work of the Church in a city or district
parish = an area that has its own church and that a Priest is responsible for
pray = to speak to God
take the collection = money collected during a church service to help a charity
confession = a private statement to a priest about the bad things that you have done

GRAMMAR SPOT

Present Perfect Simple & Continuous

Use both the Present Perfect Simple and the Present Perfect Continuous to talk about recent actions and situations that have a result in the present.

Present Perfect Simple = have + past participle

Present Perfect Continuous = have + been + -ing

Use the Present Perfect Simple when you focus on the result of a completed activity:

I’ve visited several English churches
(so I have some experience of English churches)

Use the Present Perfect Continuous when you focus on the activity.  The activity may or may not be completed:

I’ve been attending this church for 6 months now

Use both the Present Perfect Simple and the Present Perfect Continuous to talk about actions and situations that started in the past and continue up to the present.  They may be unfinished:

I’ve been living in this parish for 2 years
I’ve lived in this parish for 2 years