Baptisms and church marriages are also in decline. The Anglican Church in Hereford is a case in point. Even with some 1,000 parishioners, weekly attendance averages only about 60.

At the same time, other religions (not including Judaism) have tripled in number. One in four people in Leicester (a city in the British Midlands) is now a Hindu. But, countrywide, Islam is the fastest-growing religion.

The implications are troubling. According to The Sunday Telegraph, "Belief in a personal God has declined from 43 per cent in the 1950s to 31 per cent in the 1990s." (Sources: The Times, The Sunday Telegraph, Channel 4 TV program, "Tempting Faith" [all London].) GN