Vicar ends record sermon -- Amen

WHALLEY, England -- A British vicar has preached his way into the record books after delivering a sermon which lasted 28 hours and 45 minutes.

Rev Chris Sterry, vicar of Whalley in Lancashire, beat the existing Guinness Book of Records target for an unscripted speech by one hour and 15 minutes.

The 46-year-old preacher was originally aiming to preach for 36 hours but called off his marathon effort after running out of material.

A spokesman told the Press Association: "Chris told me he knew the first four books of the Old Testament best and he came to the end of them earlier than expected.

"He always wanted it to be a proper sermon and did not want to simply pad it out for another six hours so he called it a day.

"His two aims were always to raise the profile of the church and to raise funds, so he is extremely happy.

"He was also delighted to break the existing world record."

The rules stated that Sterry could not repeat himself, or talk nonsense, and that he could pause for no longer than 10 seconds.

He was permitted a break of 15 minutes every eight hours but there were no other rest periods allowed and the cleric warned that parishioners may have to turn away while he used his "pulpit potty."

Sterry did not sleep during the marathon sermon but fought fatigue with the clubbers' energy drink Red Bull.

He also sipped orange juice and sucked throat lozenges to soothe his vocal cords.

Before the sermon began, he said: "This will be a proper sermon. I hope that those who come to listen to it will get something out of it.

"As a former lecturer on the Old Testament I am looking forward to unlimited opportunity to talk about one of my great enthusiasms."