It's been church elections this week, a strange affair in which just about the only people who vote are those who want to sit on the parish councils themselves ...

It's a kind of hang-over from when it was a state church (up to year 2000), and the various political parties stand, on some kind of proportional representation system which I don't begin to understand; apparently the neo-nazis have stood at some levels, but they didn't appear on any of the lists up here, where the choice was between three groups:

• the social democrats (factory workers), who campaigned on the basis of a better church for everyone, more Sunday school for the tinies, and more fair-trade coffee after services;
• the centre party (farmers), who campaigned on the basis of more Sunday school for the tinies, more fair-trade coffee after services, and a better church for everyone; and
• "party for the welfare of the church", who campaigned on the basis of more fair-trade coffee after services, a better church for everyone, and more Sunday school for the tinies.

It'll be really exciting to see who wins and how a possible change of politics might change the work that any of us do ..