'The teacher at the baby care class we went to recently, quite unselfconsciously referred to her family as a family that "prays together", and recommended this as a practice we might want to institute with our own families.'

I think it's fair to say that we have been bowled over by the difference between our experience of Church in the UK and our experience of Church here - even though superficially there are so many similarities.

We have been going to an Episcopalian Church, part of the world-wide Anglican Communion just like the Churches we have left behind us.

The building even looks like an English Church - architecturally reminiscent of early twentieth century reactions to the caprices of Pugin, a conservative middle-class take on what a traditional English church 'should' look like. The liturgy, the ceremonial and the music are all very familiar.

However - there seem to be fundamental differences between American and English attitudes towards religion, which seem to permeate every aspect of Church life in subtle ways.

For example - the teacher at the baby care class we went to recently, quite unselfconsciously referred to her family as a family that "prays together", and recommended this as a practice we might want to institute with our own families. Sitcoms, TV adverts and even makeover programmes mention faith and churchgoing far more often than we're used to.

Americans have none of our English reserve about discussing matters of faith in public with casual acquaintances. I have frequently noticed that for the average English person to talk about matters of faith or Church membership, it often seems to require a kind of embarrassed bravado that an American would only require for talking about excretory functions (have you ever noticed how extraordinarily prudish so many Americans seem to be?).

Attitudes

There is, however, another difference between American and English attitudes to religion that seems to impact strongly on Church life, and this I can only describe as "generosity of spirit". There appears to be an enthusiasm for community life, and a willingness to give freely of time, effort and money, that in England I have come to associate more with individuals within Churches than with whole congregations.

The Church we go to is just an ordinary, albeit large, parish church - and yet it has a budget and a staff that in England would be more likely to be associated with a small Cathedral. It maintains two extremely competent choirs with a support staff of professional musicians.

There are numerous outreach ministries - with the homeless, with children, with the Hispanic community, in education and in social issues at home and overseas. And the vast majority of this is maintained through the committed and cheerful giving of time and money by the congregation.

When I consider my experience of the poor state of the finances of many English churches today, the paucity of volunteers, and the sheer bloody-minded determination required to plan and implement a stewardship campaign (knowing in advance that however carefully one plans, and however hard one works the results will invariably disappoint) it's hard not to ask why there is such a difference.

I wondered if our experience of Church here was exceptional, and asked other friends about their churches. But although the church we go to is remarkably large and well attended, it does not sound like there are essential differences between the attitudes of the congregations of it and other churches.

Generous

And yet I find it hard to believe that Americans are essentially in some way more generous than the English. I know my fellow countryfolk to be capable of extraordinary generosity and self-giving.

But while there are many, many honourable exceptions, by and large this attitude is found less and less in our churches. More and more, they are kept going by small committed core groups who do 90% of the work and give 90% of the money, and who, quite frankly are growing tired and desperate for new blood.

My feeling is that the difference has to do with hope. Perhaps America is simply a more hopeful nation - more ready to trust that what it believes is right (remember, even the dollar bills proclaim "in God we trust"), and more ready to feel that what it does - in church and elsewhere- can make a positive difference to the world.

In religion, and in personal and community life, in my experience so far, this seems to be a good thing. Whether it is such a good thing on the macro scale of foreign policy and world politics is quite another question altogether.