Surfing in Church

BT Answers Prayers of Distracted UK Congregation

British telecoms operator BT Group Plc (BT.L) has wired up a church in Wales to allow the congregation to hook onto local high-speed Internet connections when they want a break from the sermon.

Britain's largest fixed-line telecoms operator said on Tuesday it had installed a Wi-Fi wireless network access point, known as a hotspot, in Reverend Keith Kimber's St John's Rectory church in the city of Cardiff.

"The church has to move with the times and I wanted to make St John's a sanctuary for everyone, including business people with laptops and mobiles," Kimber said in a statement issued by BT.

"I have no problem with people quietly sending an email or surfing the Internet in church, as long as they respect the church" (Reuters, 6/1/05).