A British church has held an unusual ceremony when a vicar blessed the mobile phones of workers in the City of London financial district.
Evolving tradition
The special service at the St Lawrence Jewry church which dates back to 1136 was attended by around 80 people who held their phones and other gadgets in the air while Vicar David Parrott blessed them.
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The idea came from a historic tradition where workers would bring the tools of their trade such as ploughs to be blessed on the first Monday after people return to work following Christmas.
Parrott says they decided to have the service with a modern twist so he prayed for the people who support the technology and those who use it.
"As I prayed for God's blessing on the technology, they were holding their phones in the air," Parrot said.
People were encouraged to leave their phones switched on given the nature of the blessing but on silent.
Laptops and smartphones were also blessed in the service.
