In The Crucible, how does John Proctor respond to the question about why he has not been to church?

It is clear that Salem is a place full of deeply divided
groups of people, and John Proctor makes this clear when he responds to Hale's question
regarding his lack of attendance in church. After trying to avoid answering the
question, finally he admits that one of the principal reasons he has for not going to
church is the way in which Parris seems to focus more on money and his own personal
comforts rather than on the austere simplicity of religion. Note what he says to
Hale:

Since
we built the church there were pewter candlesticks upon the altar; Francis Nurse made
them y'know, and a sweeter hand never touched the metal. But Parris came, and for twenty
week he preach nothin' but golden candlesticks until he had them. I labour the earth
from dawn of day to blink of night, and I tell you true, when I look to heaven and see
my money glaring at his elbows--it hurt my prayer, sir, it hurt my prayer. I think,
sometimes, the man dreams cathedrals, not clapboard meetin'
houses.

Thus John Proctor in
his honesty clearly reveals some of the divisions that are present in Salem, and will
come to influence the witch trials that are occurring. Clearly, Parris is a man who is
more concerned with worldly affairs than heavenly affairs as he is a man that "dreams
Cathedrals," and it is this that annoys John Proctor so much and makes it difficult for
him to go to church.