The Church of England and the Church of Scotland

In England, Church and state are linked by the constitution. The state's official Church is the Church of England. In other countries it is known as the Anglican Church, and in Scotland and the USA it is called the Episcopal Church. It's a Protestant Church that goes back to the Reformation of the 1530s, when Henry VIII broke with Rome (see The Tudors).

• The monarch is head of this Church.
• Its spiritual leader is the Archbishop of Canterbury.
• The monarch has the right to appoint the Archbishop and other senior clergy, but in practice the Prime Minister and a committee chosen by the Church usually decide.
• A number of its bishops have seats in the House of Lords.

The Church of Scotland and other Churches

Scotland's national Church is the Church of Scotland. It is a Presbyterian Church, run by ministers and elders rather than bishops. Its main meeting is called the General Assembly, and the person who chairs it is the Moderator. Each Moderator serves for just one year and often speaks for the Church in public.

Wales and Northern Ireland have no established Church (no official state Church). Other Protestant groups in the UK include Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and Quakers. There are other Christian denominations too, and the largest of them is the Roman Catholic Church.

Wales used to be part of the Church of England. In 1920 the Welsh part of it was separated from the state and became the independent Church in Wales, which is why Wales has no established Church today. In Scotland, Presbyterian Churches have no bishops at all. So although St Giles' in Edinburgh is called a cathedral, it was a bishop's seat only for two short periods in the 17th century; its other name is the High Kirk of Edinburgh.

Chapter contents: The UK Today