| Abstract: | While the mainstream churches are being increasingly ignored as religious institutions in rapidly secularizing England, their schools survive and, in many instances, thrive. These schools, financed by public funds, are an increasingly important part of the English state schooling system. It would appear that their survival and expansion has been driven by increased societal emphasis on academic success, which, in the main, these schools provide. What are the implications of this in terms of social divisiveness and what is the response of the churches themselves in terms of their role in the communities they serve? While the arguments for and against are entered into by a small number of commentators, it is perhaps significant that the once politically sensitive area of church/faith schools is still left alone by politicians. |
