LONDON (Reuters) - A British vicar has preached his way into the record books by giving a 30-hour sermon on the Old Testament.
Chris Sterry, an Anglican vicar in northern England, broke the previous 27-hour world record for the longest unscripted sermon at 6 a.m. EDT on Saturday, cheered on by churchgoers.
At 9 a.m. EDT Sterry, 47, was still spreading God's message in the pulpit of his church in Whalley, Lancashire, in the hope of extending the record to 36 hours.
His feat has been governed by strict rules restricting nonsense, repetition and pauses lasting longer than 10 seconds, though a 15 minute break is permitted every eight hours.
Sterry passed the 27-hour milestone while narrating the tale of Daniel in the lion's den.
"He is doing well. He is not talking rubbish. It's actually making sense," local businessman and supporter Anthony Capstick told Reuters, adding that the vicar's efforts had drawn an audience of 100.
Capstick said: "There were a lot of people there last night who had piled in after the pub closed. He (the vicar) has got quite a close relationship with the pub because he is quite a sociable bloke."
The vicar was making his public speaking marathon in an attempt to raise $2,800 for a local charity, the Whalley Parish Church Ministry Fund.
($1-.7106 Pound)
Chris Sterry, an Anglican vicar in northern England, broke the previous 27-hour world record for the longest unscripted sermon at 6 a.m. EDT on Saturday, cheered on by churchgoers.
At 9 a.m. EDT Sterry, 47, was still spreading God's message in the pulpit of his church in Whalley, Lancashire, in the hope of extending the record to 36 hours.
His feat has been governed by strict rules restricting nonsense, repetition and pauses lasting longer than 10 seconds, though a 15 minute break is permitted every eight hours.
Sterry passed the 27-hour milestone while narrating the tale of Daniel in the lion's den.
"He is doing well. He is not talking rubbish. It's actually making sense," local businessman and supporter Anthony Capstick told Reuters, adding that the vicar's efforts had drawn an audience of 100.
Capstick said: "There were a lot of people there last night who had piled in after the pub closed. He (the vicar) has got quite a close relationship with the pub because he is quite a sociable bloke."
The vicar was making his public speaking marathon in an attempt to raise $2,800 for a local charity, the Whalley Parish Church Ministry Fund.
($1-.7106 Pound)
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