JKR and the Church of Scotland (Was Homosexuality in HP Series)

[bluesqueak]

No: HPFGUIDX 154684


> Geoff:
<snip> Just to clarify this a little. 
> 
> I believe that JKR did worship as an Anglican. On the following 
URL:
> 
> www.home.freeuk.net/webbuk2/harrypotter.htm
> 
> there is some biographical detail about her.

I couldn't make that link work, Geoff

>Geoff: 
> She was born in Chipping Sodbury in Gloucestershire, about 15 
> miles north-east of Bristol and lived from the age of 9 at 
> Tutshill which is on the west bank of the Severn a couple of miles 
> north of Chepstow. The site includes a picture of the Anglican 
> church at Tutshill which implies that JKR had connections with it.
> 
> Her connections with the C of S date from her living in Edinburgh. 
> I'm not quite sure what the position is regarding "membership" of  
> the C of E or the C of S but, in the Baptist church, of which I am 
> currently a member, you do not have to be a member to come to 
> services. If you are not, you are excluded from church meetings 
> and hence from a say in the working and planning of the church.
> 
> I think the C of E position used to be that you were welcomed at 
> Communion if you had been baptised - whether as a child or an 
> adult - but there wasn't a formal membership list. Perhaps someone 
> can confirm or correct me on that,

Well, I'm an Anglican Churchwarden (elected lay leader of the 
congregation), so I'm probably qualified to comment {g}. Anyone is 
welcome at any service, baptised or not. However, if you wish to 
take Communion during a Holy Communion service (or Mass), you must 
be qualified to take Holy Communion in your own church (which must 
be one that believes in the Trinity). If you are not qualified to 
take Communion, but want to, you take a series of classes that lead 
to Confirmation in the Anglican church. Quite a lot of adults do 
that.

Membership (we do have formal membership - called the 'Electoral 
Roll') requires only baptism, not Confirmation. If you are baptised 
in the Anglican denomination and live within a certain distance of 
the church, you are entitled to be a voting member. If you were 
baptised in another denomination, or live outside the 'parish 
bounds', you have to worship at a particular church for six months 
before you can become a voting member. 

So JKR's connections could legitimately range from the very vague to 
the highly committed. She might have worshipped, gone to Sunday 
School and been confirmed there, or she may have simply attended 
school services there. Or even just weddings and baptisms. Either 
way, in England the Anglican church is the 'local' church, and would 
also be used for things like Harvest Festivals, local fetes, 
possibly youth clubs, maybe Scout groups, that sort of thing. It's 
quite possible to have a genuine connection to the local church 
without ever going to a Sunday service. 

The impression I've got from various interviews is that her faith 
was the rather vague kind until she ended up a single mum in 
Scotland. At that point she was greatly helped by a woman friend who 
was a regular attender at a Church of Scotland church - which is why 
she became C of S.

Geoff:
> Since I was baptised as a baby and also as an adult, I'm OK either 
way.
> :-)

If adult baptism qualifies you to take Communion in your church, 
yup, you'd be fine to take Anglican communion. :-)

Pip!Squeak