State churches are organizational bodies within a Christian denomination which are given official status or operated by a state.

State churches are not necessarily national churches in the ethnic sense of the term, but the two concepts may overlap in the case of a nation state where the state boundary largely corresponds to the distribution of a single ethnic group to which a certain denomination is attached as an aspect of ethnic identity. State churches, by contrast, may also be minority denominations which are given political recognition by the state.

In the People's Republic of China, there are two branches of state-operated churches; the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and Three-Self Patriotic Movement.

Pastors are trained at state-approved seminaries and are appointed by the government.

Jane Marie Lynch (born July 14, 1960) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She obtained a Golden Globe Award, Emmy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, People's Choice Award, and Satellite Award. Lynch also received the First Annual PlanetOut.com Short Movie Award, Florida Film Critics Circle Award, and Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival Jury Award. She is open about her lesbianism; in 2005, Lynch was named one of POWER UP's "10 Amazing Gay Women in Showbiz".

She gained fame in Christopher Guest's improv mockumentary pictures such as Best in Show and is currently known for playing the role of Sue Sylvester in the Fox musical comedy series Glee for which she has won both the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. Other notable awards she has won for the series include the People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Comedy Actress, Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Her television cameos include an appearance in the Nickelodeon situation comedy iCarly and the Showtime dark comedy series Weeds. Lynch had a recurring role in the Fox situation comedy Two and a Half Men and also has had notable roles in numerous mainstream comedies, such as Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Role Models, and The Three Stooges.

Jordan Peele (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor and comedian known as a cast member on MADtv from 2003–2008 and currently for his recurring role as Dr. Brian on the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital. Peele currently stars with Keegan-Michael Key in the Comedy Central sketch show Key & Peele.

Peele joined the cast of MADtv in 2003 as a featured performer, for the ninth season. Around the time Keegan-Michael Key joined the cast as a featured performer, it was assumed that Key would be chosen over Peele. However, Peele created enough memorable characters—including Funkenstein and Superstitious Knight Ty Gray—and would be carried over to the next season.

Peele also impressed with his various celebrity impersonations, which included favorites Caroll Spinney (as the voice of Big Bird), Ja Rule, James Brown, Flavor Flav, Justin Guarini, Montel Williams, Morgan Freeman, and Forest Whitaker.

Jordan was nominated for a 2008 Emmy for his song parody "Sad Fitty Cent," a music video parody about 50 Cent lamenting over his rivalry with Kanye West. The lyrics were, according to the music video, written by Jordan himself, and he was also involved in arranging its music.

Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955) is an American illusionist, comedian, musician, and best-selling author known for his work with fellow magician Teller in the team Penn & Teller, and advocacy of atheism, scientific skepticism, libertarianism and free market capitalism.

Jillette was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts. His mother, Valda R. Jillette (née Parks) (November 8, 1909 – January 1, 2000), was a secretary, and his father, Samuel H. Jillette (March 14, 1912 – February 14, 1999), worked at Greenfield's Franklin County Jail. Jillette became disenchanted with traditional illusionist acts that presented the craft as authentic magic, such as The Amazing Kreskin on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. At age eighteen, he saw a show by illusionist James Randi, and became enamored of his approach to magic that openly acknowledged deception as entertainment rather than a mysterious supernatural power. Jillette regularly acknowledges Randi as the one person on the planet he loves the most besides members of his family.

Glenn Edward Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. He formerly hosted the Glenn Beck television program, which ran from January 2006 to October 2008 on HLN and from January 2009 to June 2011 on the Fox News Channel. Beck has authored six New York Times–bestselling books. Beck is the founder and CEO of Mercury Radio Arts, a multimedia production company through which he produces content for radio, television, publishing, the stage, and the Internet. It was announced on April 6, 2011, that Beck would "transition off of his daily program" on Fox News later in the year but would team with Fox to "produce a slate of projects for FOX News Channel and FOX News' digital properties". Beck's last daily show on the network was June 30, 2011. In 2012, The Hollywood Reporter named Beck on its Digital Power Fifty list.