More people have faith in resurrection than stock market - bishop

The Bishop of Lichfield has used his Easter message to say more people have faith in the resurrection than the stock market.

The Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill says England is "far from a secular country" as he spoke of people's desire for a "return to real Christianity".

He started his message by recalling Good Friday processions he used to take part in during the Seventies to Sugar Loaf Hill and in the Eighties through the streets of Canterbury.

"The first year or two the streets were deserted because no shops were open but year by year as the shops started to trade on Good Friday there were more and more people lining the pavements as we walked through the centre, singing hymns and carrying a cross," said Bishop Gledhill.

"And you could see that many of the families out shopping were puzzled as to why on earth the Christians were demonstrating. What's the point of Good Friday? Shopping had become the new religion, the yuppies in red braces made fortunes out of our pension funds and the churches declined. This was secular Britain."

He told the congregation, however, that "times have changed again".

"With a new financial crisis in our nation the bubble of borrowing on the never never collapsing, people are coming to their senses. The brave new secular world where everyone is meant to have choices has proved unworkable without values that come from somewhere."

He said that immigration had challenged Christians in the UK "because they mostly are more devout than we are and their values make us take out and dust down our own Christian faith which is still built into our legislation and education however much we have tried to ignore it".

He stressed the importance of Good Friday by saying that society on its own "fails to solve our problems".

"Jesus Christ is God come to bring forgiveness and new life," continued Bishop Gledhill. "The cross shows how evil humans can be and what lengths God was willing to go to win us back. It shows that any and all of us can be forgiven and have a new start, and that peace with God and peace on earth are possible, because he died for us."

He pointed to the results of a survey published by Theos last week which showed that 57 per cent of Britons believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead.

"That's way more than believe in the stock market," he said. "We are very far from being a secular country in our beliefs.

"I think there's a kind of longing in the air in our country for a return to real Christianity, for people to rediscover how much they are loved by God and how much he wants to set us free to be the kind of people he made us to be."