On almost every occasion, he was closely followed round the supermarket by the security guard. He was so warmly accepted at the church that he was soon received into the local grandmothers’ crochet circle. This was a level of integration that I, having lived in the village for a number of years already, had nowhere near achieved. Many recent surveys have shown that church attendance is surging among ethnic minorities, while it remains at historic lows among the white British majority. The Church seems to be playing a practical, unsung role in integrating minorities and newcomers into British life.