Trends: Click here for two Hail Marys

Evangelists have long espoused their views on TV, but the Tube now seems like old hat when it comes to spreading the Word.

Chinavision, a Chinese electronics wholesaler, has launched a crucifix-shaped MP3 player ( www.crossmp3player.com) with a preloaded copy of the New Testament. America's Bible Belt has, not surprisingly, embraced the gizmo.

In Italy, meanwhile, McKay & Sisters ( www.mckay.it) sends Catholic prayer cards to mobile phones for £2.30 a week. And here in the UK, believers are gathering online at StPixels.com, a virtual church with over 1,500 members.

With the release of church programmer Mark Howe's new book Online Church? First Steps Towards Virtual Incarnation (Grove Books, £2.95), the path to heaven has never seemed more digital.