Sermons on your iPod

Vicars are putting sermons on the internet so parishioners can listen to them on their iPods.
Users subscribe to an internet service allowing them to download the sermons.

According to the Mirror Rev Shannon Ledbetter of St Mary's church, Knowsley, Merseyside said: "For the elderly and housebound this is fantastic, all you need to do is fix them up with an iPod and they're good to go.

"For the young also, there is so much information there, which can help to answer their questions about their faith."

Steve Evans, of Bridge Chapel Christian church in Liverpool, said: "Large numbers of new people are coming down and joining simply because of the downloads and podcasts.

"All our congregation has to do is subscribe to the service and every time they plug their mp3 player in, the updates will automatically be transferred."
However, in his first Christmas message Pope Benedict warned against technology, saying people risked ending up in "spiritual barrenness".