8 December 2012 Last updated at 21:39 ET

Twitter Christmas sermons for Anglican bishops

Rev Rachel Mann says she will encourage her congregation to tweet during her sermon

Britain's senior Anglican bishops will be tweeting their Christmas Day sermons for the first time this year.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the archbishop-designate, as well as clergy and congregations around the UK, will be celebrating the birth of Jesus in a campaign making use of social media.

Worshippers in the Church's 16,000 parishes are being encouraged to tweet on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The Archbishops' Council said it was a chance to spread Christmas "good news".

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Rowan Williams, his soon-to-be successor the Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Justin Welby, and the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu will be tweeting.

They are likely to tweet from carol, crib and midnight services, before carrying on into Christmas morning when the highlights of the sermons at Canterbury Cathedral, York Minster and Durham Cathedral will be tweeted.

The campaign will use the hashtag #ChristmasStartsWithChrist.

Rev Arun Arora, of the Archbishops' Council, said: "This is a brilliant opportunity for parishes to take the good news of the first Christmas out of churches and into people's lives and homes."