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National church

Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state

Note

'national churches' in the ethnic sense

A national church is a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in a draft discussing the question of church and state around 1828 wrote that :"a National Church might exist, and has existed, without Christianity, because before the institution of the Christian Church – as [...] the Levitical Church in the Hebrew Constitution, [and] the Druidical in the Celtic, would suffice to prove".

John Wordsworth, Bishop of Salisbury, wrote about the National Church of Sweden in 1911, interpreting the Church of Sweden and the Church of England as national churches of the Swedish and the English peoples, respectively.

The concept of a national church remains alive in the Protestantism of United Kingdom and Scandinavia in particular. While, in a context of England, the national church remains a common denominator for the Church of England, some of the Lutheran "folk churches" of Scandinavia, characterized as national churches in the ethnic sense as opposed to the idea of a state church, emerged in the second half of the 19th century following the lead of Grundtvig. However, in countries in which the state church (also known as the established church) has the following of the majority of citizens, the state church may also be the national church, and may be declared as such by the government, e.g. Church of Denmark, Church of Greece, and Church of Iceland.

Countries and regions with national churches

Country	National church	Denomination	Percentage
Armenia	last1=Ágoston	first1=Gábor	last2=Masters	first2=Bruce Alan	title=Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire	date=1 January 2009	publisher=Infobase Publishing	isbn=9781438110257	page=53	quote=The Armenian Apostolic Church, sometimes referred to as the Gregorian Armenian Church by Western scholars, serves as the national church of the Armenian people.}}	Oriental Orthodox	95.2% (2022)
Bulgaria	last=Hall	first=Richard C.	title=The Modern Balkans: A History	date=1 January 2012	publisher=Reaktion Books	isbn=9781780230061	page=51	quote=While this did not restore the Ohrid patriarchate, it did acknowledge the separation between the Orthodox church in Constantinople and the Bulgarian Orthodox church, which was now free to develop as the Bulgarian national church.}}	Eastern Orthodox	62.7% (2021)
Cyprus	Church of Cyprus	Eastern Orthodox	89.1% (2011; government-controlled territory)
Denmark	last1=Venbrux	first1=Eric	last2=Quartier	first2=Thomas	last3=Venhorst	first3=Claudia	author4=Brenda Mathijssen	title=Changing European Death Ways	date=September 2013	publisher=LIT Verlag Münster	isbn=9783643900678	page=178	quote=Simultaneously the church tax, ministers being public servants, and the status of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark as the national church indicate that the state lends its support to the church.}}	Lutheran	url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413042049/http://www.km.dk/folkekirken/kirkestatistik/folkekirkens-medlemstal/	date=2016-04-13 }} Kirkeministeriet
Estonia	last=Elvy	first=Peter	title=Opportunities and Limitations in Religious Broadcasting	year=1991	publisher=CTPI	location=Edinburgh	isbn=9781870126151	page=23	quote=Denominationally Estonia is Lutheran. During the time of national independence (1918-1940), 80% of the population belonged to the Lutheran National Church, about 17% were Orthodox Christians and the rest belonged to Free Churches.}}	Lutheran	9.91% (2011)
Ethiopia	Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church	Oriental Orthodox	43.5% (2007)
Eritrea	Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church	Oriental Orthodox
Faroe Islands	last=Proctor	first=James	title=Faroe Islands	date=13 May 2013	publisher=Bradt Travel Guides	isbn=9781841624563	page=19	quote=Religion is important to the Faroese and 84% of the population belongs to the established national church in the islands, the Evangelical—Lutheran Foroya Kirkja, which has 61 churches in the Faroes and three out of every four marriages are held in one.}}	Lutheran	79.7% (2019)
Finland	title=Denmark, Finland, and Sweden	date=1 June 2013	publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing	isbn=9781615309955	page=77	quote=One of Finland's national churches is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (Finnish: Suomen Evankelis—luterilainen—kirkko), or simply the Church of Finland.}}	Lutheran	65.2% (2022)
Georgia	last1=Melton	first1=J. Gordon	last2=Baumann	first2=Martin	title=Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices	date=21 September 2010	publisher=ABC-CLIO	isbn=9781598842043	page=1195	quote=The Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) is the Eastern Orthodox Christian body that serves as the national church of the Caucasian country of Georgia. The great majority of Georgians are members of the church.}}	Eastern Orthodox	83.4% (2014)
Germany	Protestant Church in Germany	Protestant	23.7% (2021)
Greece	last=Miller	first=James Edward	title=The United States and the Making of Modern Greece: History and Power, 1950–1974	year=2009	publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press	isbn=9780807832479	page=12	quote=The creation of a national church of Greece, which the patriarch reluctantly recognized in 1850, set a pattern for other emerging Balkan states to form national churches independent of Constantinople. }}	Eastern Orthodox	90% (2017)
Iceland	last1=Wilcox	first1=Jonathan	last2=Latif	first2=Zawiah Abdul	title=Iceland	date=1 September 2006	publisher=Marshall Cavendish	isbn=9780761420743	page=85	quote=The National Church of Iceland, formally called the Evangelical-Lutheran Church, is the state religion, and the president of Iceland is its supreme authority.}}	Lutheran	59% (2022)
Latvia	Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia	Lutheran	34.2% (2011)
Liechtenstein	Catholic Church"The Roman Catholic Church is the State Church and as such enjoys the	Catholic	75.9% (2010)
Malta	Catholic Church	Catholic	83% (2019)
Montenegro	Serbian Orthodox Church	Eastern Orthodox	71.1% (2023)
North Macedonia	last=Rae	first=Heather	title=State Identities and the Homogenisation of Peoples	date=15 August 2002	publisher=Cambridge University Press	isbn=9780521797085	page=278	quote=The creation of a national Church was also central to building national identity, with the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) established in 1967, much to the outrage of the Serbian Orthodox Church.}}	Eastern Orthodox	64.4% (2011)
Norway	last1=Cristofori	first1=Rinaldo	last2=Ferrari	first2=Silvio	title=Law and Religion in the 21st Century: Relations between States and Religious Communities	date=28 February 2013	publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.	isbn=9781409497332	page=194	quote=The State shall support all religious communities including the Church of Norway on an equal footing, but the Church of Norway shall 'remain the people's Church and is as such supported by the State', thereby upholding its function as a national Church.}}	Lutheran	69.91% (2018)
Romania	Romanian Orthodox Church	Eastern Orthodox	81.9% (2011)
Russia	last=Prizel	first=Ilya	title=National Identity and Foreign Policy: Nationalism and Leadership in Poland, Russia and Ukraine	date=13 August 1998	publisher=Cambridge University Press	isbn=9780521576970	page=155	quote=Although nominally a national church, the Russian Orthodox Church developed from a defensive, nativist institution to the ideological foundation of an imperial idea.}}	Eastern Orthodox	url=http://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/religious-affiliation/	title=Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe	date = 10 May 2017	publisher = Pew Research Center	access-date = 2017-09-09}}
Serbia	last=Tomasevich	first=Jozo	title=The Chetniks	date=1 January 1975	publisher=Stanford University Press	isbn=9780804708579	page=176	quote=He also had the support of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which as a national church long identified with the national destiny and aspirations of the Serbian people was naturally inclined to identify itself with the movement that had the backing of the king and the Servian-dominated government-in-exile.}}	Eastern Orthodox	84.59% (2011)
Sweden	last1=Gilley	first1=Sheridan	last2=Stanley	first2=Brian	title=The Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 8, World Christianities C.1815-c.1914	year=2006	publisher=Cambridge University Press	isbn=9780521814560	page=354	quote=The Church of Sweden could be characterised as 'national church' or 'folk church', but not as 'state church', because the independence of the church was expressed by the establishment of a Church Assembly in 1863.}}	Lutheran	53.9% (2021)
Tuvalu	last=West	first=Barbara A.	title=Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania	date=1 January 2009	publisher=Infobase Publishing	isbn=9781438119137	page=845	quote=A second important cultural feature of the Tuvaluan nation is the centrality of the national church, the Ekalesia o Tuvalu, or Church of Tuvalu, in which up to 97 percent of the population claims membership. }}	Calvinist	91%+ (2012)
Ukraine	Ukrainian Orthodox Church	Eastern Orthodox	52% (2021)
United Kingdom	British Protestant Churches	Protestant	69%

Ethnic groups

Country	Group	National church	Denomination
Egypt	Copts	last=Makari	first=Peter E.	title=Conflict & Cooperation: Christian-Muslim Relations in Contemporary Egypt	year=2007	publisher=Syracuse University Press	isbn=9780815631446	page=42	quote=The Coptic Orthodox Church is the historic, and national, church of Egypt and is deeply tied to a monastic tradition of spiritual growth and preparation for ministry of monks and nuns, a tradition that continues to thrive.}}	Oriental Orthodox
Egypt	Greek Christians	Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria	Eastern Orthodox
Assyria	Assyrians	Assyrian Church of the East	title=Legions Not Always Visible on Parade: The Vatican's Influence in World Politics	date=2003	publisher=University of Wisconsin—Madison	quote=The Chaldean Church is located primarily in Iraq and functions in many ways like a national Orthodox Church.}}
Syria	Aramaeans	title=Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia	first=John	last=A. Shoup	year= 2011	isbn= 9781598843620	page = 31	publisher=ABC-CLIO	quote= }}	Oriental Orthodox
Lebanon	Maronites	last=Ajami	first=Fouad	title=The Syrian Rebellion	date=30 May 2012	publisher=Hoover Press	isbn=9780817915063	page=70	quote=The Maronite Church is a national church. Its creed is attachment to Lebanon and its independence. The founding ethos of the Maronites is their migration from the Syrian plains to the freedom and “purity” of their home in Mount Lebanon.}}	Eastern Catholic
Lebanon	Armenian Apostolic Church	Holy See of Cilicia	Oriental Orthodox
Syria-Lebanon-Turkey	Antiochian Greek Christians	Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch	Eastern Orthodox
Levant-Egypt	Antiochian Greek Christians	Melkite Greek Catholic Church	Eastern Catholic
Turkey	Armenian Apostolic Church	Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople	Oriental Orthodox
Turkey	Greek Christians	Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople	Eastern Orthodox
India	Malankara Nasrani	Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church	Oriental Orthodox
India	Syrian Orthodox Christian	Jacobite Syrian Christian Church	Oriental Orthodox
India	Malankara Nasrani	url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208102644/https://books.google.com/books?id=XCaLJq3ADQgC&pg=PA41#v=onepage&q&f=false	date=8 February 2024 }}*. William Carey Library; 1979. . p. 41.	Anglican
Indonesia	Betawi people	St. Servatius Church	Catholic
Indonesia	Javanese	Ganjuran Church	Catholic
Indonesia	Chinese Indonesians	Gereja Kristen Kalam Kudus	Calvinist
Indonesia	Dayak people	Evangelical Church in Kalimantan	Calvinist
Indonesia	Moluccans	Protestant Church of Maluku	Calvinist
Indonesia	Balinese	Protestant Christian Church in Bali	Calvinist
Indonesia	Sundanese	url=https://www.Oikoumene.org/member-churches/pasundan-christian-church	title=Pasundan Christian Church (Gereja Kristen Pasundan, GKP)	website=Oikoumene.org	publisher=World Council of Churches	date=2022	access-date=26 October 2022}}	Calvinist
Indonesia	Minahasans	Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa	Calvinist
Indonesia	Javanese
Madurese	East Java Christian Church	Calvinist
Indonesia	Javanese	Javanese Christian Church	Calvinist
Indonesia	Torajan	Toraja Church	Calvinist
Indonesia	Torajan	url=http://profilgereja.wordpress.com/2010/05/06/gereja-toraja-mamasa/	title=Gereja Toraja Mamasa \| Profil Gereja di Indonesia	date=6 May 2010	publisher=profilgereja.wordpress.com	accessdate=2014-06-06}}	Calvinist
Indonesia	Karo Batak	Karo Batak Protestant Church	Calvinist
Indonesia	Angkola Batak	url=http://gkpa.or.id/?reff=sejarahgkpa	title=Sejarah GKPA	website=gkpa.or.id	accessdate=24 September 2021	lang=id}}	Lutheran
Indonesia	Toba Batak	Batak Christian Protestant Church	Lutheran
Indonesia	Pakpak Batak	url=https://www.tuntasonline.com/2021/05/09/bupati-pakpak-barat-hadiri-pelantikan-pimpinan-dan-majelis-pusat-gkppd	title=Bupati Pakpak Barat Hadiri Pelantikan Pimpinan Dan Majelis Pusat GKPPD	access-date=2021-09-24	archive-date=2022-08-10	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810045907/https://www.tuntasonline.com/2021/05/09/bupati-pakpak-barat-hadiri-pelantikan-pimpinan-dan-majelis-pusat-gkppd	url-status=dead}}	Lutheran
Indonesia	Niasans	Protestant Christian Church of Nias	Lutheran
Indonesia	Simalungun Batak	Simalungun Protestant Christian Church	Lutheran

Criticism

Karl Barth denounced as heretical the tendency of "nationalizing" the Christian God, especially in the context of national churches sanctioning warfare against other Christian nations during World War I.

Notes

References

William Reed Huntington, A National Church, Bedell lectures, Scribner's, 1897.

References

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Dag Thorkildsen, "Scandinavia: Lutheranism and national identity" in ''World Christianities, c. 1815–1914'', vol. 8 of ''The Cambridge history of Christianity'', eds. Sheridan Gilley, Brian Stanley, Cambridge University Press, 2006, {{ISBN. 978-0-521-81456-0, pp. 342–358.
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[http://www.km.dk/folkekirken/kirkestatistik/folkekirkens-medlemstal/ Church membership 1990–2020] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-04-13 Kirkeministeriet {{in lang). da
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[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/romania/ Romania], [[The World Factbook]]
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(10 May 2017). "Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe". Pew Research Center.
There is no official census of religion in Russia, and estimates are based on surveys only. In August 2012, [http://sreda.org/arena ARENA] determined that about 46.8% of Russians are Christians (including Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and non-denominational), which is slightly less than an absolute 50%+ majority. However, later that year the [http://www.levada.ru/17-12-2012/v-rossii-74-pravoslavnykh-i-7-musulman Levada Center] {{Webarchive. link. (2012-12-31 determined that 76% of Russians are Christians, and in June 2013 the [http://fom.ru/obshchestvo/10953 Public Opinion Foundation] determined that 65% of Russians are Christians. These findings are in line with [http://www.pewforum.org/2011/12/19/global-christianity-exec/ Pew]'s 2010 survey, which determined that 73.3% of Russians are Christians, with [http://wciom.ru/index.php?id=268&uid=13365 VTSIOM]'s 2010 survey (~77% Christian), and with [http://www.fgi-tbff.org/sites/default/files/elfinder/FGIImages/Research/fromresearchtopolicy/ipsos_mori_briefing_pack.pdf#page=40 Ipsos MORI] {{webarchive). link. (2013-01-17 's 2011 survey (69%).)
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