The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Tim Stevens, is to appear in Channel Five's 'Don't Get me Started,' on Tuesday evening (September 13th).

Speaking ahead of the programme he said:

"Programmes that air issues about churchgoing and our spiritual appetite are invaluable in getting people talking about spiritual matters and moral questions."

"Despite what people say and the current accepted wisdom, what I say in the programme is that belief is not dying in Britain, whether Christian or other. In my diocese, half the population is engaged in religious activity weekly, and attendance at Leicester's Church of England Churches grew by a 4% in 2003. Although we are not complacent on the basis of one year's figures, this says that the church is far from ebbing away. Nationally, the growth overall in 2003 was a smaller but still statistically significant 1%."

Speaking about the role of church buildings in their communities, he continued:

"People in Britain have a close connection with churches in their communities with 86% visiting a church at least once for some purpose or another in 2003. What I would like to see is 'at least once,' becoming more frequent, for some spiritual purpose: whether to find a peaceful space or to worship or to get to know us better."

"To encourage that, my brother bishops and I are supporting initiatives to help us develop new ways of being the church in our communities, alongside and not instead of more traditional expressions of Church. These include taking some worship and meetings out into the community, weekday activities and worship and styles of service aimed at different age groups."

Further information from: Liz Jepson (Bishop of Leicester's press officer) tel 0116 248 7402 or 07967 388861