a. how many paragraphs the text is made of.

b. where the key sentence is placed in each paragraph.

1. What is the difference between the ‘Church of England’ and the ‘Anglican Church’?

2. Why do the Latin words ‘Fidei Defensor’ apply to the British monarch?

3. What are churches used for (besides as a place for prayer)?

4. Is it the same in your country?

The Church of England occupies both a political and a spiritual role. The organisation is referred to as ‘the Church of England’ when considering its place in the constitution or life of the nation, and as ‘the Anglican Church’ when its spiritual or theological identity is at issue. Because it is the body chosen by, and connected to, the British political system of government, the Church of England is the established church (it differs, however, from the Church of Scotland). It is thus formally tied to both parliament and to the monarchy. […]

The presence of the established Church is evident in numerous ways in British life. British coins bear the head of the monarch plus the Latin initials ‘F.D.’ signifying that the monarch is defender of the faith – that is, of the Anglican version of Christianity. In 1995, Prince Charles caused some controversy among traditionalists by suggesting that at his coronation he would like to be known as Defender of the Faiths (plural) in recognition that Britain was no longer an exclusively Christian country. He again caused controversy in 1996 when he suggested that money from the ‘Millennium Fund’ should in part be spent on mosques. Despite many moves towards multiculturalism in Britain, sections of the tabloid press reacted with hostility to this suggestion, seeing mosques as a symbol of a foreign and minority religion despite the fact that British Muslims now outnumber adherents of most British Protestant denominations.

At all levels of society, Britain’s churches are involved in its cultural life. Church halls are used for whist drives, jumble sales, play groups, badminton, barn dances, sales of jam by the Women’s Institute, and an array of other events for charity and local causes which may be entirely secular. Most of the Church’s cathedrals hold concerts of classical music, both secular and religious, and may hold exhibitions of paintings. Nearly all British Cathedrals have a gift shop, selling cards, tapes, ornaments and books, and many also have a coffee shop or café which visitors are encouraged to patronise. It is perhaps because of this greater flexibility in their use, as well as the aesthetic or historical appeal of beautiful buildings and stained glass that, while church-going is in marked decline, attendance at cathedrals (both by tourists and by worshippers) is on the increase.