ALL the figures from the 2001 census are now being made public.

One of the amazing pieces of information is that Bolton is amongst the most religious places in the country.

There are well over 70 per cent who said they were Christian, significant numbers of people who are Muslim and Hindu, and only a very small number of people who say they have no faith.

This comes as a surprise to me because the 70 per cent who say they are Christian certainly don't come to church. I would have thought that with so many people having such tenuous ties with a church many more would have said that they professed no religion.

There are some practising Christians who would say that those who declare themselves Christians without doing anything about it are just on a nostalgia trip. But are all these people who declare themselves Christian, but who don't come to church, frauds? Perhaps a more charitable answer is that deep down there is still a longing for the Christian faith in many hearts.

As I was pondering this I read once again the story of Jesus healing a blind man. When the man is healed Jesus says a strange thing to him. He says: "Don't tell anyone." This reminded me that Jesus often says this to people who he has healed. Jesus healed many people in the crowds who came to him, but he did not invite them to be his followers. He told them: "Go home, don't tell anyone who healed you, just thank God."

Though Jesus healed many he only called a small number to be his followers and to bear the burden of the heat of the day as he walked towards Jerusalem to his death.

Could this give us a clue to the large numbers who say they are Christians but who don't come to church? Perhaps church members are the few who are called, and the rest are people to whom Jesus ministers and then tells them to go home and thank God.

Perhaps the church has to be there for the 70 per cent when they want it in their time. It may be a birth, a marriage or a death. Or it may be that simple loneliness brings people into the fellowship.

I may be being far too charitable to the 70 per cent. Perhaps I should simply say get up of your backsides and do something about it. Blunt speaking may be in order here.

But whatever is the right response I do believe that Jesus' ministry to the sick and needy when he says to them, "Go home and thank God, " must be taken seriously.

Michael Williams

Vicar of Bolton Parish Church