This article provides a concise history of Church and State in the UK, providing readers with a basis for understanding its history and legacy. Particularly enlightening is the tracing of this trajectory in England in contrast to those of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. There is a relevant comparison to the separation of Church and State established in the First Amendment of the US Constitution, as well as a discussion of recent movements towards secularity in recent parliamentary debates. On this, the authors make an important distinction between Secularity (neutrality ‘between religions, and between religion and non-religion’) and Secularism (active measures to ‘keep religion out of the public arena’ ). 

A brief but informative primary source from the Scottish reformer Andrew Melville. This source helps to shine light on an early critique of the union between Church and State as well as the different trajectories of Church and State found in England and Scotland. 

This article explores the topic of civil partnerships on religious premises. The article explores how the reality of a 'religious establishment' can infringe upon greater religious freedom and equality. This is interesting to read in light of the Marriage Act that would pass the following year, the later movement of several branches of Christianity to conduct same-sex weddings, and the Anglican Church’s most recent move to provide blessings for same-sex unions in early 2023.

This article brings the evolution of issues of Church and State into the current decade. While the Monarchy and House of Lords still suggest the Church of England’s present power and influence on matters of governance, most recent census data show a stark decline of Christianity in British society. The author suggests that the Church’s influence, ultimately, is nominal, ‘like nitrogen in air: inert and ignored but there nevertheless’.