Holy Homer, thy will be done

THERE are legions of fans worldwide that worship the dysfunctional, satirical Simpsons family.

But who’d have thought they’d be used as a tool to help Christian youths worship God?

The Church of England is to suggest youth workers play extracts from the cartoon to teenagers in a bid to increase church attendance.

The activities of beer-swilling Homer Simpson and his family feature in a book, Mixing It Up With The Simpsons, that is being sent to church youth advisers in every Church of England diocese next month.

The book will urge clergy to set up screens in their churches to show extracts from episodes of the hit cartoon that deal with themes such as self image and temptation.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has said in the past that he is a fan of the cartoon series.

The publication of the book comes as the number of people under the age of 16 attending worship in the Church of England on a Sunday fell from 180,000 in 2000 to 157,000 in 2005.

The author of the book, 24-year-old Owen Smith, said The Simpsons was an “unexpectedly rich” resource for exploring Christian themes.