Church Vicars to Wield Technology to Spread the Word

Vicars across the UK could soon be taking a box of technical tricks into the pulpit instead of a weighty leather-bound Bible.

In a bid to bring sermons to life and relate the Bible to contemporary culture, church leaders will soon be showing two-minute video clips about topical films, the latest music and news stories that have been downloaded onto their iPod before plugging into the pulpit laptop.

The Damaris Trust, a Christian charity based in Southampton, has for seven years led the field in helping church leaders teach the message of the Bible in the language of contemporary popular culture.

The organisation provides a textual database of quotes, stories and illustrations drawn from the latest films, music and TC - available online and updated every week.

Its website www.culturewatch.org also publishes study guides on the latest films and books every week - and receives over 250,000 page viewings each month.

Now, at the request of supporters, Damaris is preparing to create and upload two-minute videos for download by preachers, Sunday school teachers or youth leaders.

The clips will be created each week, ready to use on the Sunday - with up to date and breaking issues and events which preachers may want to comment on in their sermons or talks.

Much of this material comes from the library of contemporary popular culture that Damaris builds each week.

Nick Pollard, co-founder of Damaris, said: "We're offering a rapid response with culturally relevant inserts and segments for Christian communicators to use in sermons, youth groups or whenever they need to relate the historic Christian message to modern culture and need a visual aid which can reinforce the point.

"They will also be available as streaming video clips for integration into church web pages, as well as on our main Youtube channel - www.youtube.com/damaristv."

In the autumn, Damaris is also planning to launch a daily Bible reading and contemporary thought for young people which can be downloaded and played on their iPods.

Further details can be found at www.damaris.org