Though religious life beyond traditional walls is too decentralized to track precisely, some indicators suggest a rising trend:

• About half of the nation's observant Christians participate in small group ministries that meet either at church or in parishioners' residences, according to Gallup Poll research.

• Over the past year, followers of "Conversations with God" author Neale Donald Walsch have launched 162 home-based "Humanity's Team" gatherings nationwide.

• Organizers of the Alpha Course, an introduction to Christianity, are currently recruiting hosts to offer an environment "less threatening" than the institutional churches.

Congregations which traditionally gather around piles of bread, fruit and vegetables to sing "We plough the fields and scatter" will be asked to acknowledge their "selfishness in not sharing the earth's bounty fairly". They may also apologise for "our failure to protect resources for others" and for "inequality and oppression in the earth".

The new prayers are contained in the latest addition to the liturgy, the Common Worship: Times and Seasons, which is expected to be approved by the General Synod meeting in York tomorrow.