Church and StateYour leader regarding my survey of the sharp decline in church membership (“Follow the faith, not the polls”, 23 January) suggests that I think church teaching should be shaped by opinion polls. I have never in my life said or thought or implied such a thing.I do, however, think two quite different things. First, that churches should take more notice of what their adherents believe, having first used good research to discover this. Second, that an established church – with the privileges and responsibilities that that implies – cannot take the position of a bystander throwing rocks at society. For good or ill, it is an integral part of that society, and its goal is to infuse the culture with Christian truth. Church and society are to dance together,