Church in the lurch

'Churches in Britain are a “toxic cocktail” of bullying and terror, as parish priests struggle to lead congregations dominated by neurotic worshippers who spread havoc with gossip and manipulation', reports The Times, paraphrasing a recent publication.

For family reasons - this is a militant atheist blog, after all - I ended up at a Church carol service this morning. True, it did seem a bit cruel to force the aged pianist to stretch to a fifth verse of the Xmas carol popularised by Boney M. But my main impression was one of an institution cut adrift in the modern world, where the clergy's attempts to use Powerpoint presentations throughout a sermon inspired more hilarity than confidence.