ONE of Lancashire's leading churchman has accused schools of being embarrassed by their religion.

The Rt Rev Alan Chesters, Bishop of Blackburn, was speaking at the diocesan synod gathering at a Leyland school.

The Bishop, who is chairman of the church's national Board of Education, was addressing the recently published Dearing report.

Speaking on the 39th anniversary of his ordination, he said: "The report insists that although the schools, in the traditional way of the Church of England, should be open to children of the wider community and not just to practising Christians, they should be recognisably Christian.

"How right that is, and so it is in the majority of our schools.

"But there are some where the headteachers and staff seem afraid for reasons of political correctness or whatever to acknowledge the Christian nature of their school."

Lord Dearing's report, The Way Ahead, is part of a series on how the Church of England should shape the future of it's schools.

Lord Dearing said of his report: "Everything in the group's report has its origin in the General Synod's resolution stating that 'Church schools stand at the centre of the Church's mission to the nation'. We have set out to show the implications of that statement."

The report focuses on teachers and points out how teaching needs to be promoted as an important expression of Christian ministry by introducing teachers from minority ethnic groups for pupils of non-Christian religions.

The Bishop finished by praising the report for it's "celebration of Church schools", hoping it would further pressure groups who have attempted to remove Church schools.