From Biblical times until today the relationship between religion and state has been a topic of theological debate. What role should the church play in a modern state? In England and the Anglican world this question has found a variety of very different answers.
Hundreds of millions were glued to the TV screens when the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, crowned Charles III king of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Westminster Abbey. The quintessentially medieval ritual, unique among European monarchies, highlighted the special link between the Church of England and the British state.
Most people know by now that the Church of England being “Established” means that the British king is the secular head of the church, next to the Archbishop of Canterbury as the spiritual head. Less well known is the fact that this arrangement is not merely symbolically significant. It has very real consequences for the functioning of church and state in the United Kingdom (not just in England).
Did you know for instance that important resolutions of the Church of England synod need legislative approval from parliament to be valid? Or that the British Prime Minister has a real say in the selection and appointment of bishops? And that Church of England priests are in fact obliged to administer weddings, funerals etc. to all inhabitants of their parish irrespective of their religious affiliation?
Of course all this is specific to England, in other Anglican churches in other countries completely different practices and theologies have developed.
These issues and many more will be explored at the Young Forum Anglicanism 2023 in Berlin.
The seminar papers will be presented in English, but discussion and questions will be in German.
Papers
- A Theology of Monarchy for the 21st century
- The Relationship between Church of England and the state
- The Case for Disestablishment (Abschaffung der Staatskirche in England)
- An Anglican Understanding of Church and State Outside the United Kingdom and in Comparison With Other European Countries incl. Germany (EKD)
- Besuch im Gottesdienst der Saint George’s Anglican Church (Berlin) und anschließende Begegnung
The speakers
Dr Jonathan Chaplin (Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, University of Cambridge)
Revd Canon Prof Dr James Hawkey (Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey)
Revd Chris Jage-Bowler (Pfarrer der Saint George’s Anglican Church, Berlin)
Dr Anne Richards (National Public Policy Adviser, Church of England)
KR Dr. Patrick Roger Schnabel (Referent bei der Bevollmächtigten des Rates der EKD bei der BR Deutschland und der EU)
Termin: 17.-19. November 2023 (Friday 2 p.m. to Sundy 2 p.m., Saturday evening is free)
Ort: Berlin Parochialkirche, Klosterstraße 67, 10179 Berlin-Mitte (https://elisabeth.berlin/de/himmlische-raeume/parochialkirche)
Detailed programme: Watch this space
Cost: (incl. 2 nights (twin rooms!), breakfast, Saturday lunch, transport in Berlin)
- Fee with accommodation: € 65
- Fee without accommodation: € 20
- Online participation: € 20 (this will only happen if the seminar is not full! It is definitely safer to participate in person).
- Voluntary: People with a salary or those who can get funding from their employer or student scholarship fund, can take the real cost of € 130 per person.
Register until 20. Oktober 2023 bei Britta Frischmuth-Zenker (Sekretariat des Konfessionskundlichen Instituts):
info [at] ki-eb.de, 06251-8433.0
General Informationen on the Young Forum Anglicanism (in German) here.
More questions? Ask me (Kai Funkschmidt) or any of the student team preparing the event with me:
Sven Groeger sven_groeger [at] t-online.de
Jakob Güntter jakob.guentter [at] posteo.de
