The Church has its courts whose jurisdiction today extends only to church property and matters of church discipline

England is divided into several dozens of districts, called dioceses. Each diocese has a cathedral and is headed by a bishop. It is divided into parishes, and each parish is in the care of a vicar who often has an assistant, called a curate. Both men and women have been admitted to the clergy of the Church of England since 1994.The priests of the Church have the freedom to conduct services as they wish.

In recent years there has been a decline in the membership of the large Christian Churches. In general, Britain has the reputation of being an irreligious country with poor church-going habits. To attract young people, some priests have introduced a form of pop music and encouraged young musicians to accompany the prayers. Many vicars take a great interest in their parishioners and combine the tasks of priest, social worker and psychologist. It is estimated that there are some 27 million adherents to the Church of England.

The Presbyterian Church is the established Church of Scotland. It is completely separate from the Anglican Church. The Church of Scotland has a Presbyterian form of government, that is government by elders, all of equal rank. It has its own organization and appoints its own clergymen.

Presbyterianism is a severe form of Protestantism, founded in the 16th century and following the teaching of the great French reformer, Calvin. It received its status as the national church in 1707 (the Treaty of Union). The Church of Scotland is powerful and its influence tends to be rather puritanical.

Men and women are admitted to the priesthood, and each church is governed locally by the Kirk Session, consisting of the priest and the elected elders of the Church. The highest body of the Church of Scotland is the General Assembly, consisting of elected clergy and elders. The adult membership of the Church is about 860,000.

In Wales most of the people belong to the Free Churches. Two-thirds of the population of Northern Ireland are members of the Anglican Church and Free, or Protestant Churches. The remaining part of the population constitutes the Catholic minority.

All the United Kingdom is divided into seven Catholic provinces. Each province is controlled by an archbishop and in its turn is divided into dioceses which are in the charge of bishops. Only men are admitted to the clergy of the Church. There are about 6 million Catholics in Great Britain.

The Roman Catholic Church attaches much attention to the education of its children and requires its members to bring up their children in the Catholic faith. Although the Catholic Church feels better than other Christian Churches, even this Church is seeing a decline in attendance nowadays.

Great Britain has a long tradition of religious tolerance. Many religious communities coexist here peacefully. The present community of Jews is one of the largest in Europe - over 400,000. More than half of them live in London. Jews still tend to marry Jews, for both racial and religious reasons, though this is happening less and less among the younger generation.