A new Christian website, GodTube, is the fastest-growing website in the US. Last month alone, it drew more than four million users.The website, which allows visitors to chat and exchange religious-themed videos, is proving to be one of the most surprising successes on the internet.
Based heavily on popular non-religious sites, the Texas-based organisation combines the video clip-sharing principle of YouTube, the social networking feature of Facebook and live webcasting.
Popular downloaded features have included videos of a Christan rap song called That Book You Got Makes Me So Holy, a squirrel singing I Will Always Love You and a clip of a little girl lisping Psalm 23 from memory that has been viewed nearly 4.5 million times.
Other popular attractions include music, comedy and more than 25,000 videos, with 300 to 500 fresh ones arriving each day.
The site also features heated theological debates.
Their content is monitored by a 10-strong team of seminary students.
Members of other religions are invited to participate on the GodTube.com website, but prosletysing is strictly prohibited.
Atheists are welcome, too, and they may share their point of view "as long as it's done respectfully".
Similar sites target Muslim and Jewish audiences but none with so much success as GodTube.
The venture, which is backed by many big churches and Christian product retailers, was officially launched in August.
Chris Wyatt, GodTube's founder, said he set it up because churches were having difficulty reaching young people "in a language they can understand".
Asked what Jesus would think of the site, he said it was more appropriate to ask "what Jesus would be downloading".
He points out that GodTube users on Sunday mornings outnumber the congregation of the megachurch pastor Joel Osteen in Houston.
Mr Wyatt, 38, said the site — which is not a church but a media company — earns money from advertising, selling subscriptions to ministries which want to broadcast more frequently and by selling demographic data about its users.
GodTube's growth has been so rapid that it recently launched its own news service.
Another spin-off, Godcaster, will soon allow any church in the world to stream its services for free.
Mr Wyatt, a theological college student, describes the site as a neutral "Switzerland" open to various theological viewpoints.
Mr Wyatt, who has had to put off training for the ministry, said: "Its success was a major surprise, but doing this site has been a great joy." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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