"Try, try, try a little harder . . ."

So sang Janis Joplin, noticing that the hookers who hit the streets at noon did more business than she did, getting up mid-afternoon.

Not exactly the best parallel, but : I'm hard at work canvassing as Green Party candidate in St Mary's Ward for Oxford City Council election. It strikes me that in order to get people to give up ten minutes of their time to call in at a polling station and put a cross on a piece of paper - a privilege that, though hard-won, costs them nothing - every one of 4,000 or so doors will be knocked on at least twice in the space of a month and have three separate news-sheet and/or leaflet drops. The stall will be up and running outside Cowley Road Tescos every Saturday for three hours. And then about 30% will respond (though, who knows, maybe it will be better this time).

And we sit in our churches hoping that people will just come - not just once for ten minutes but weekly, for at least an hour . . .