Prayers Are Answered for Distracted Congregation

LONDON (Reuters) - British telecoms operator BT Group Plc 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."

Wi-Fi -- a medium-range wireless network that is often rolled out in coffee shops and airport lounges -- allows users of laptop computers and other gadgets to access fast Internet connections without having to struggle with wires and mismatched phone plugs. Prayers are answered for distracted congregation (Tue May 31, 2005 09:31 AM ET)


Reverend Kimber may not mind if somebody is e-mailing a client while at church, but he really should be asking the man or woman that is sitting next to the guy with the computer. Some people type loud, and some laptops are loud with humming noises. I wouldn't want to sit next to somebody who is more distracted with e-mail than listening to the sermon. Will this person actually learn from the sermon? If they are that busy, they might as well have stayed home, turned on the tube and watched a televised sermon while they type away on their computers. Why should they bother the people sitting around them in church when they didn't even have to go? Other people choose to go because they want to go.

To me, a church is a sacred place and it MUST stay that way. Just like work should stay at work, business should not be brought to church. I go to church to celebrate God and to learn from the Bible and from our pastors, church is only about an hour and a half out of the 168 hours in the week, or better yet, it is only takes 0.89% out of your week. Close the laptop, God and your spirituality are more important.