A minister in Germany is hoping to attract young people back to church, not by a ringing bell but a ringing mobile phone.
On Thursday, the world's first mobile phone church service will take place in an Evangelical (Lutheran) church in Hanover, with highlights of the service relayed by text message or SMS to the mobile phones of registered users.
"Mobile phones are so popular as a means of communication among young people. We want to show them how traditional messages in sermons and prayers can be transmitted through a modern medium," says the Rev Stefan Heinze.
Until recently he had as much interest in mobile phones as most young people have in church services. However, by replacing prayer books with mobile phones, Mr Heinze hopes to encourage back to church young people who haven't seen the inside of a church since their confirmation.
Over 1,100 young people around Europe have registered on the official website, he says, and they have already started sending prayers and requests by SMS that will be read out during the service.
At 5 p.m. on Thursday an Internet company employed by the church will start transmitting the text of the service to its mobile-phone congregation.
The German language is not known for its brevity and Mr Heinze is further restricted by technological limitations.
Text messages have a 160-character limit so the minister has had to do a little editing on the 325-character "Lord's Prayer".
"Naturally an SMS-service cannot replace a traditional service. But why does a sermon have to last 20 minutes when you can say it instead in a few succinct sentences?" says Mr Fabian Kirschner, a Hanover student who signed up on Sunday.
It's not important from where people participate in the church, says the church website: "In the park or at home, it doesn't matter where. You will be blessed. God is there."
The Website address for the SMS service is www.ev-jugend-hannover.de/
