It might be a Rave in the Nave, a complaint about pews, a dotty vicar who sells the organ and hires a band. How we worship tells us something about what kind of God we believe in. Some are for the Radio 3 God - beautiful music, but few listeners. Others are for a Radio 1 God - big audiences, but a perhaps a bit too flashy for some tastes. For some time now, trendies, or followers of Radio 1 God, have been claiming that the Church of England is dying of Good Taste .
Some recent figures appear to confirm their suspicions.
They show a drop in the number of Anglican worshippers, the total falling perilously close to that million mark. In contrast, traditionalists, or followers of Radio 3 God, claim that the Church of England is dying of Bad Taste . Happy-clappy songs and trite forms of worship turn people off. So, one lot prefers a church with neatly turned out priests in ornate seasonal sacramental robes. Congregations sit in heavy oak pews, and glory in feeling subdued and sublime.