Terms of Reference and Questions

Terms of reference

"Intending to evaluate and shape the ongoing contribution of Evangelicals to society, and seeking to uphold religious liberty, the Commission will investigate Faith and Nation in the UK. It will aim to inform the strategic thinking of the Evangelical Alliance through a forward-looking study of the place of religion in the socio-political life of twenty-first-century Britain. Integral to the Commission’s analysis will be engagement with relevant theological and constitutional issues."

Questions

Constitutional

1. Does the model of a national church help or hinder Christian mission in modern Britain?
2. In what ways might the current relationship between the Crown and the Church be addressed over the next 25-50 years?
3. In what ways might the current relationship between Church, Parliament and Government be addressed over the next 25-50 years?
4. What might the different nations of the UK have distinctively to contribute to the development of church-state relations?
5. What effects might the inclusion of other faiths in the constitutional process have on the role of religion in British society? How might their inclusion specifically affect Christian mission in Britain?
6. Should the Church of England be disestablished? If not, why not? If so, how might this be done, and what would be the implications?

Socio-political

1. How should Christians respond to the contemporary shift in public policy-making, from Judeo-Christian ethics to a moral paradigm based on human rights?
2. To what extent is Britain becoming a) a secular society? b) a pluralistic society? What similarities and differences exist between secularism and pluralism, and how is each trend affecting Christian witness in Britain?
3. What opportunities and threats are presented to Christian witness in Britain by increased emphasis on ‘citizenship' and ‘tolerance'?
4. How is the devolution of government to nations and regions within the UK likely to affect church-state relationships in future?
5. Given the growing disenfranchisement of large sectors of the British population from the democratic process (e.g. the low turnout of younger adults at recent elections), what role might faith communities play in stimulating re-engagement?
6. To what extent is religious liberty under threat in the current political context? How might faith communities seek to uphold religious freedom in the future?

Theological

1. To what extent is it possible to derive from the Bible a definition or definitions of a) statehood; b) nationhood?
2. How has the understanding of the relationship between church, state and nation been developed theologically from the Patristic period to the present?
3. What, if any, is the biblical and theological basis for a) a present-day ‘state church'; b) a present-day ‘national church', or ‘national churches', in Britain?
4. How might developments on the ecumenical scene in Britain affect relationships between the churches, the state and the nation over the next 25-50 years?
5. How might the increasing participation of other faith communities in the political process bear theologically on current debates about church, faith and nation?
6. Is it possible to formulate a distinctively pan-evangelical response to the current debates about church, faith and nation?