Radical changes are in prospect for all churches in England and Wales . . .
Proposals put forward by the Home Office and the Charity Commission will require places of worship to register with the Charity Commission from April 2001. The Charity Commission estimate that in total 100,000 groups will be affected.
When the central register of charities was created by the Charities Act 1960 places of worship were not obliged to do so, because it was an accepted fact of English law that public worship was a charitable activity.
