The parochial council leads the practical business of the local church and decides employment of personnel, including the pastors, musicians, verger, and sacristan.

[15] The church is aimed at having a wide acceptance of theological views, as long as they agree with the official symbolic books as stipulated in the Danish Code of 1683.

Historically, there is a contrast between a liberal current inspired by N. F. S. Grundtvig and more strict, pietist or Bible fundamentalist movements (such as Indre Mission).

In contrast to Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, Danish congregations sit while singing and stand while listening to Bible readings.

For the next century, in a time when religious wars swept Europe, harsh persecution of other faiths followed (Lutheran orthodoxy).

They may conduct legal weddings, establish own cemeteries, get residence permits for foreign priests, are exempt from corporate and property tax, may apply for means from the state lottery fund, and members may tax-deduct membership fees and presents to the congregation.

It merely investigates whether the organisation fulfills basic definitions, such as having a doctrine, creed and cult, in order to be called a congregation of faith.

The King (in practice the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs) and Parliament are the central bodies, but they usually keep to administrative matters and abstain from interfering with spiritual questions.

Firstly, these principles are generally believed to ensure a non-sectarian, tolerant church where parishioners and priests enjoy a high degree of freedom to practise their own interpretation of Lutheran Christianity.

The keeping of such kirkebøger ("church books") is a centuries-long tradition, dating from when the parish rectors were the only government representatives in rural areas.

In return, certain public tasks are carried out by the Church, such as conducting vital records registries and managing graveyards which are open to all denominations.

While the debate about separation of church and state emerges occasionally in Denmark, the current arrangement is supported by most political parties.

It has been challenged for decades by the left wing and by atheists; more recently also by some ideological liberals and some members of free churches.

Minister for Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs Bertel Haarder, spoke out against a split: "Church and state will be separated when more than half of the population are no longer members.

The opposition Social Democrats also argued against a split, but said there should be more equality between denominations, possibly by a state subsidiary paid to other approved religious communities as well.

[20] Immigrant groups and the Muslim society are divided on the issue, as some think official Christianity is preferable to a purely secular state.

Further there are varying degrees of public funding of the church in Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Norway, Sweden, in most cantons of Switzerland, and in the Alsace-Moselle region of France.

The matter became headline news amidst a debate about Muslim fundamentalists who refuse to shake hands with members of the opposite sex.

The Minister for Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs, Bertel Haarder, said he would discuss the matter with the bishops, but also stated that tolerance for various views should be respected.

In contrast, the Minister for Employment, Claus Hjort Frederiksen, thought that the priests in question should be dismissed, as public employees are obliged to shake hands with anyone.

After an enquiry from the Danish National Association of Gays and Lesbians in 1993, bishops set up a commission to reach a stance on the matter.

The bishops disapproved of institutionalising new rituals, but couples who wished a non-ritualised marking in church of their registered partnership should be obliged.

In early 2012 Minister for Equality, Ecclesiastical Affairs and Nordic Cooperation, Manu Sareen introduced a bill approving same-sex marriage, which was passed in parliament in June 2012.

[29] A wedding ritual with liturgy has been developed and presented to parliament by the eleven bishops who are in favor of same-sex marriages being performed in church.

[30] Manu Sareen and a majority of bishops initially proposed the ritual would not declare the same-sex couple 'spouses', but 'life partners' (livsfæller, a Danish neologism), but the minister later changed his mind on this detail.

[32] The process towards the official recognition of same sex marriage in the Church of Denmark began on 8 February 1973, when 'Provo Priest,' Harald Søbye, performed a wedding of a male couple, although not legally recognised, on a suggestion from a journalist at the newspaper Ekstra Bladet, which announced it as 'The World's First Gay Wedding'.

In practice, clergy have been allowed to decide for themselves whether to perform same-sex marriages or not, similar to the right to deny remarriage of divorced persons (a policy employed by a conservative minority of priests).

Once employed, parish priests are public servants and cannot be discharged except for neglect of duties, which will finally be the bishop's decision.

[37] The priest himself denied this was the issue, but rather claimed the assaults were part of a general tendency in the 'crumbling district', and intensified after he spoke out in public about the local youth crime.

[39] Tingbjerg is a single-plan public housing area, marked by gang violence and youth crime, and the most criminal district of Copenhagen.