In the 1960s the Department of Architectural Studies at SheffieldUniversity undertook a survey which showed that buildings which were used heavily every day of the week suffered from stress and were unlikely to last. Those that had just one 24-hour period of "refreshment" each week had time to recover and lasted longer.

If a building requires regular rest, how much more those who work in it?

Today, the 24/7 mantra dictates otherwise. Although holiday periods and weekly hours are regulated, employers have more power over the lifestyles of their employees than at any time in decades. Annualised hours contracts force employees to work when there is demand for their labour, regardless of the consequences to home life or commitments. In a recent survey by the Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers, (USDAW) 62% of employees said they were under pressure to work on Sunday. That pressure is particularly severe on those just beginning their careers. Every church congregation will contain at least one young person who is working on Sunday and unable to attend services, however involved and committed they may have been before they started work.

This pressure might be a necessary evil if there were a serious pressure for a 24/7 culture. But research suggests there is not. A GfK NOP Telebus poll taken in July 2007 reported that two thirds of those polled felt that Sunday had lost its special feel, and almost three quarters said they would not be bothered if the large stores were not open on Sunday. Two fifths of respondents said that it was very important for family stability and community life to have a shared common day off each week. Only 3% said that was unimportant. Almost a third of respondents said that they never used large stores on Sunday.

Nor is there much evidence that abolishing a shared day of rest improves economic productivity. There was a time in the 1970s when the country went on a three day week. Lack of fuel reduced the capacity to provide sufficient electricity for industry and commerce. Instead of production levels plummeting, however, output remained virtually constant.

Indeed, there is evidence that enforced rest can improve productivity. My father-in-law was a senior banker in the City of London. When he was responsible for bank inspections he was always suspicious of managers who never took their holiday. The Financial Services Authority think the same way and have called for all those who have responsibility for money to take two consecutive weeks off each year. It makes good sense. Those who are engaged in fraud or practices which place unscheduled risks on their employers find it much more difficult to do this when they are away from their desks and their work is being undertaken by someone else.

Taking holidays is not, of course, a modern concept. Not only were the people of Israel mandated to rest every week, but they were told to take a camping holiday of eight days every year as an extended August Bank Holiday after the harvest had been gathered in. Until recently, that practice was deeply ingrained in the British national conscience.

After the Reformation the Quakers rediscovered the economic advantages that could be obtained from an ordered life of limiting work by adhering to a cycle which included a Sunday completely free of work. From that was developed a range of industrial and commercial enterprises in which the workers had time to take their leisure. Cadbury’s model village of Bourneville in Birmingham was designed around a normal pattern of family life in which the workers were encouraged to engage in sports, cultivate their gardens, maintain their health and participate in religious activities.

More recently, the Gower Handbook of Management notes, ‘Relaxation can be achieved in two ways. The first is to carry out any activity which distracts the mind from work. A happy home life, religious activity, gardening, sport, hobbies; all of these are good forms of relaxation. ..’

Religions make space for many different patterns of life. But the importance many, not least Christianity, attach to a shared period of rest is to be ignored at our peril. Whether that rest should be every day, every week, every month or every season will be open to debate. But the point is that simply leaving the business of rest to the marketplace of personal choice results in a relentless 24/7 culture, with all the personal, social and environmental stress that we are becoming familiar with. 24/7 is unsustainable. Everyone would benefit from taking a Sabbath.

Mark Pargeter is a lay minister at St Andrew's Caversham. He helped form the World Development Movement in the 1960s, was a member of the Lichfield Diocese Higher Education Advisory Group in the 1980s, and was China researcher for Keston Institute more recently. He is now a member of the advisory group for the Centre for the Study of Christianity in China.