Учебно-методическое пособие по работе с темой "COUNTRY PROFILE". Дедова С.А. - 20 стр.

Church of England». There is some truth in this statement, but it is by no      churches are particularly strong in the old Celtic areas of Northern Ireland,
means the whole story. Let us start by looking at some of the numerous          Wales, Scotland and south-west England. Most of them allow women to
groups practicing their faith in Britain.                                       become ministers.
       The Church of England.                                                           As well as these churches there are various other Christian commu-
       The Church of England is a Protestant church and the official state      nities such as Orthodox and Armenian Christians, but the picture is further
religion of England (although membership is not, of course, compulsory).        complicated by meny eastern religions.
The Queen is the Head of the Church of England and she, with the advice                 Non-Christian Religions.
of the Prime Minister and others, appoints the senior members of the clergy             There are large numbers of Commonwealth citizens in Britain whose
– the archbishops, bishops and deans.                                           ancestors came from such countries as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
       The Church is divided into two provinces – Canterbury and York –         Many of these people are Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists. There are
each with its own archbishop and the Archbishop of Canterbury is the most       100 Muslim mosques and centres, 300 Sikh and Hindu temples and 200
senior official in the Church of England. The two provinces are divided         Buddhist groups. There are also about 400,000 Jews living in Britain.
into a number of dioceses, each with its won bishop; and the dioceses are               So can Britain really be called a ‘Christian society’?
further split into parishes. There are 13,250 parishes in England alone, and
every parish has its won church, all except for the very smallest with its            1) Parish – province – diocese. Which is the largest and which is the
won priest or vicar. The Church of England does not yet allow women to          smallest?
become vicars. This is the cause of a major argument raging in the Church             2) Roman Catholic – Church of England – Church of Scotland. In
at the moment, but it is possible that the situation will change within the     which of these churches can women become priest?
next few years.                                                                       3) Wales – Scotland – Northern Ireland. In which of these countries
       The Church of Scotland.                                                  are you least likely to meet a Roman Catholic?
       The Church of Scotland is recognized as the official religion of Scot-         4) Using these texts as an example tell about religions in Russia.
land. It is a Protestant church and is a Presbyterian organization. This
means that there is no hierarchy of archbishops and bishops. The Church of      6. Read the text and compare the relationship between state and church
Scotland is governed by its ministers (parish priests) and elders (elected         in the U.S. and in your country. Ask your group mates to tell you what
representatives), all of whom are considered to hold equal rank. Women are         they know of such relationship in other countries.
allowed to become ministers in the Presbyterian Church.
       The Roman Catholic Church.                                                                     U.S.: STATE AND CHURCH
       About 10 per cent of the population of Britain are Roman Catholics
                                                                                       Looking at religion in the U.S., we are faced with a typically Ameri-
including more than one third of the population of Northern Ireland. Recent
                                                                                can contradiction. From its vary beginnings as a nation, Americans have
years have seen attempts to create some form of unity between the Catholic
                                                                                been extremely careful to separate church and state, religion and govern-
Church and the Church of England, but there are many problems, not least
                                                                                ment.
of which is that whereas the Church of England appears to be gradually
                                                                                       The Constitution, specifically the First Amendment, forbids the gov-
accepting the idea of admitting woman to the priesthood, this is totally un-
                                                                                ernment to give special favors to any religion or to hinder me free practice
acceptable to the Roman Catholic Church.
                                                                                of any religion. As a result, there are no church taxes in the United States,
       The Free Churches.
                                                                                nor is there an official state church or a state-supported religion.
       There are several Protestant churches in Britain which, unlike the
                                                                                       There are no legal or official religions holidays. Christmas, for ex-
churches of England and Scotland, are not officially recognized as state
                                                                                ample, is an important religious holiday for Christians. However, Congress
religions. There are called the Free Churches, the most important of which
                                                                                cannot proclaim it, or any other religious observance, to be an official or
are the Methodists, Baptists, and the United Reform Church. These
                                                                                legal holiday. To do so would violate the Constitution.

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