The Bishop of Blackburn is encouraging Christians to make the most of the opportunity to vote in the approaching general election.

The Rt Rev Nicholas Reade will say in his Easter Day sermon tomorrow that the election, expected to take place on May 6, is an opportunity for Christians “to make the connection between resurrection faith and the concerns of the world in everyday life”.

He will challenge them to apply their Christian beliefs to the agendas presented by politicians.

“We need to make the Gospel connections because absenteeism, I don’t think is an option for those who believe God became human in Jesus and is today alive and at work in the world,” he plans to say.

“Part of our responsibility as disciples of the Risen Christ means considering how God's Kingdom can in some small way be advanced through the way we vote, and the way in which we participate in the political process.”

Following the Easter Sunday service, the bishop will lead worshippers out onto the cathedral forecourt in a demonstration of solidarity with the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe, which has come under intense pressure from the state authorities in recent years.

In Harare, Anglicans have been threatened with tear gas and by the police, who have broken into services and physically assaulted worshippers.

“I believe our brother and sister Anglicans in Zimbabwe have helped us make this connection between the light of Resurrection faith and living and witnessing in this world,” said Bishop Reade.

“To see and hear of their joyful faith in the Jesus who broke out of the tomb and broke through closed doors, and then learn that some of them cannot worship the risen Christ in their churches because they have been locked out of them is heartbreaking.

“Their faith in the power and love of the Risen Christ will not stop them from turning up and worshipping outside their churches and the cathedral.”