Might I, um, talk to you about, er, God? No? Right. I’ll do the flower rota instead
. . .By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

BRITAIN’S Protestant clergy are too shy to go out to convert people to Christianity, according to research that will be published next month.

A survey of Anglican, Baptist and Methodist clergy by the Right Rev Michael Whinney, retired Bishop of Southwell, showed that most were sensitive introverts who lacked the characteristics to be “out there” in the community.

“One wonders about the stressful element of this type of work for the introverted majority in church leadership,” Bishop Whinney said. “This begs the question as to how effective is the system for choosing and placing ministers in churches.”

On starting out, most ministers would consider evangelism as part of what they were expected to do. Over the years, clergy of all denominations can become bogged down in running services, dealing with the organist and keeping the church roof rain-proof. The march of secularism means many also despair over their young dreams of the reconversion of England.

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