Church of Denmark

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Church in Holte

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark (the church of Denmark or the people's church of Denmark) (Danish:Den Danske Folkekirke) is a state church and is the largest Christian church in Denmark. It is a Lutheran body, and is officially supported by the government. The Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs is the highest administrative authority in the Church. The current Minister is Bertel Haarder. The Danish parliament ("Folketinget") is the supreme legislative authority for the church.

1 Organisation
2 Church tax
3 Sources
4 External links

[edit] Organisation

According to official statistics from January 2005, 83.1% of Danes are members of the state church, although less than 5% of their members attend weekly services. Church life is organized in 12 dioceses and around 2,000 parishes.

All Danes baptised in the Danish Lutheran Church become automatically members of the Lutheran Church of Denmark ("Folkekirken"). Danes baptised in other religious groups and denominations, including other Lutheran bodies, do not automatically become members of the Lutheran Church of Denmark; they have to actively seek application for it. It is not possible to be a member of two or more religious groups or denominations in Denmark.

[edit] Church tax

Danish Christian history is preserved greatly via Lutheran Church of Denmark. Thus from the time a Dane starts paying taxes to the Danish government, all who are members of the Lutheran Church of Denmark also automatically start to pay church tax. Depending on municipality, this is between 0.42 and 1.51 per cent of the taxes. In chapter VII, §68 of the Constitution of Denmark it says that people are not obliged to support any religion other than their own, thus church tax in Denmark is not compulsory, but a choice.

The church tax is a choice in Denmark.,According to §4 of the Constitution of Denmark "the state is obliged to support Folkekirken financially. This is not really an issue with most native Danes , as it preserves helps their church in upkeep, although the issue does arise from time to time