A VILLAGE church is thought to be the first in the UK to broadcast live Sunday services, christenings, weddings and funerals over the Internet.

Worshippers are logging on from South Africa, Turkey, Canada and Sweden to see services at St Peter and St Paul Church in Deddington.

They include a Godparent who saw a Christening 12,000 miles away in New Zealand.

And residents at Featherton House care home, in Deddington, gather around the television, which is connected to the Internet, for Sunday services.

The word of God is also piped into the radio station at Banbury’s Horton Hospital.

The 13th Century church recently hit a ratings high with 160 viewers for one service.

The Rev Dr Daniel Inman said: “The idea was to reach out to people in the parish who could not get to church any more for whatever reason.

“We put it on the Internet and it’s all taken off, people are tuning in from all over the place.

“It’s hard to tell if the people who tune in were interested in the church beforehand, but it has certainly made people think differently about the church in the 21st century “We are making an effort in new and innovative ways to reach out to people.”

Village resident and IT specialist David Rogers came up with the idea after being asked to work on the church’s website.

He said: “I poked around the church and they had a fantastic sound system so I said why don’t you make recordings of your services and take them to the older people who can’t make it into church? Then it was a short step to say why don’t you broadcast this stuff live.”

Families are asked if they want christenings, weddings and funerals to be broadcast.

Some services are also linked with the Kimberley and Kuruman diocese, in South Africa.

Mr Rogers, 43, of Deddington, added: “We are watching them, watching us, watching them.”

And the computer trickery does not stop there – visitors who step on the squeaky floorboard at the entrance to the church switch on a computer screen which shows its history.

banbury@oxfordmail.co.uk To watch the services, visit deddingtonchurch.org and click on Church TV.