Vicar blesses laptops and mobile phones

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 yesterday.

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 the 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".