state churches
Government-endorsed faith bodies
A state church is a religious denomination officially endorsed or established by a national government.
The Church of England is Britain's state church; Lutheranism holds this status in several Scandinavian countries.
State churches may receive public funding, perform civil functions like marriages, or enjoy legal privileges denied other religions.
The arrangement ranges from ceremonial to substantive depending on the country.
- religionSystem of spiritual belief
- clergyOrdained religious officials collectively
- ministryClergy's work or state department
- congregationAssembled group of worshippers
- concordatsFormal agreements, often papal
Augsburg Confession · establishment · religious establishment · doctrine · diocese · denomination · secularization · tithes · religious minorities · freedom of conscience · establishment clause · liturgy · officials · divine right · Lutheranism · Martin Luther · Counter-Reformation · freedom of religion
state churchesseparation of church and state
Constitutional religious neutrality principle
secular state · church-state separation · secularism · disestablishmentarianism · wall of separation
state, church, states, churches, stated, stating, statement, statements, stately