Established Church

The Established Church of a country is a Church which the government of that country officially acknowledges as a national institution and which it supports either financially or in other ways. Many countries do not have an Established Church; but in England the Established Church is the Church of England (or Anglican Church), and the Queen, i.e., the Head of State, is also the Head of the Church of England.

At least since the nineteenth century it has been argued, on various grounds, that the Church of England should no longer be the Established Church of the country, i.e., that the Church of England should be disestablished. Those who maintain this position are known as disestablishmentarians, and their opponents, who hold that the Church of England should continue to be the Established Church, are known as antidisestablishmentarians - with 26 letters one of the longest words in the English language, if not the longest.