God protect this blessed laptop
A VICAR has launched a bizarre bid to attract city workers to his church — by offering to BLESS their mobile phones and laptops.
The Rev David Parrott issued his first blessing over a heap of high-tech laptops and smart phones on the altar of London's 17th Century St Lawrence Jewry church today.
He said it was to remind the capital's busy workaholics that "God's grace can reach them in many ways".
He added: "It's the technology that is our daily working tool, and it's a technology we should bless."
The short blessing capped today's services at the Christopher Wren-designed building — the official church of the Corporation of the City of London, which runs the capital's bustling financial district.
Parishioners took out their mobiles and Rev Parrott recited a blessing prayer over them.
He said the service was an update of a traditional back-to-work ceremony called "Plow Monday", in which villagers gathered to bless a symbolic farming implement dragged to the church's door.
But Rev Parrott said that ceremony didn't have much relevance for his church, which was "nowhere near a field in the middle of London".
He took up his post at St Lawrence Jewry — so-called because it stands in what was once the capital's Jewish neighbourhood — about seven months ago, and said the updated ritual was "a fresh idea for a fresh post".
He said he hoped the ceremony had made worship "lively and relevant to the people who work nearby in the financial district".
Rev Parrot added parishioners were welcome to leave their phones on during the service — as long as they kept them on silent.