‘Vicar of Baghdad’ Burgess Hill service to be broadcast across the world

Canon Andrew White, better known as the ‘Vicar of Baghdad’, will visit The Point church on Sunday for a talk that will be seen around the world.
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He will be talking about the refugee crisis and how we should respond to it. He will focus on the Middle East, and on the issues which are causing tens of thousands of people to flee from violence and persecution.

The talk will be part of the first @ChurchLive service, a partnership between Twitter and the Church of England which will see smartphone technology used to broadcast church events to a global audience.

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Every week, a different church will broadcast its service, live.

Rev Arun Arora, Director of Communications for the Archbishops’ Council said: “This is a project designed to bring Church of England services from Malton to Miami, Middlesbrough to Milan and Manchester to Mumbai.

“Those who may not make it to church on a Sunday for all sorts of reasons will have the opportunity to be part of a service. The ability to join in worship shouldn’t be restricted to geographical constraint.

“We know that Periscope users are a global audience and we expect that there will be as many watching services broadcast via Periscope as are physically present at the services themselves.”

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Julia White from Twitter UK, said: “Periscope gives people and communities the opportunity to live broadcast everything from on-the-spot breaking news through to individual reflections. It’s great to see the Church of England taking the best of what they have to offer and using Periscope to show it live across the world.”

Tallie Proud, Digital Officer for The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England said: “It could be someone too ill to attend, a family who want to ‘attend’ even when on holiday or someone who just wants to know what the church is like before they make the sometimes scary step of walking into the building for the first time.”

Apart from hosting Canon White’s talk, The Point plans to make a £5,000 contribution to his work, and hopes the congregation will match that figure through an appeal.

Coffee will be served at The Point, in Jubilee Road, Burgess Hill, from 10.15am on Sunday October 11, with the service starting at 10.30am.

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