Malta has chosen the figure of Christ for its euro coins, officials announced, after a vote which reflected the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic island's strong Christian heritage.

"Almost 17,000 people felt they should participate in the decisionmaking process of choosing the face of our new currency," said finance minstry official Tonino Fenech after the results of the ten day telephone poll was announced.

Nige Gresley is a 43-year-old Methodist with two passions: the church and his model railways. "Most model railway exhibitions take place on Sunday morning, and I always had a bad conscience when I missed church to exhibit my models. But I slowly began to realize that church is not about being in a particular building at a particular time. I realized that God is also with me when I am with my fellow exhibitors. And then I had an idea...!"

For years, Nige had held special "Children's Hours" at the exhibitions, playing well-known stories to do with trains, such as Thomas the Tank Engine, to an excited audience. So he thought that it would be a great opportunity to present the greatest story of all time-with model locomotives in the main roles! So he now tells stories from the Old and New Testaments, with trains playing the biblical characters: Peter the Green Engine, James the Red Engine and the Virgin Voyager (Mary) play alongside The Fat Controller (God) and The Flying Scotsman (Jesus).

"One chap got quite upset that I was suggesting Jesus might have been Scottish," Nige remembers, "but once I explained the power of metaphor as used in the parables- and let him have a go operating the signals-he calmed down." "It's more than entertainment," he says. "I believe we're genuinely building Church here." Source: Interview on www.emergingchurch.info

United Methodist churches are using 21st century technology to fulfill Jesus' Great Commission of making disciples. Churches of all sizes are using internet technology to reach their members as well as to evangelize new audiences. And borrowing a page from pop culture, churches are finding that one of the hottest resources available is podcasting.

Podcasting allows people to listen to sermons and other material online at their convenience and to share that content with others. In common use, podcasting refers to delivering media programs over the internet. These programs are often similar in style and content to radio and television shows and are typically provided in a digital audio and video format. Instead of being broadcast as a traditional program over the airwaves once, podcasts are meant to be downloaded to a computer or mobile device and played later. Some podcasts are free but require a subscription, while others have a subscription-delivery price.

Podcasting "represents yet another form of citizen journalism," said the Rev. Larry Hollon, top executive of United Methodist Communications. "It enables an individual to produce a program and distribute it directly to an audience. It's a form of 'one to many' journalism," he said. Anyone with a microphone, computer and an Internet connection can use podcasting to provide audio and video programming that can be consumed by people anywhere in the world, according to Podcasting News.

One church using podcasting and a variety of other Internet tools for outreach is the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan. Bozeman (Mont.) United Methodist Church offers weekly sermons by podcast. This form of media helps people keep connected, said Rev. Dave McConnell, pastor. "It allows members to hear the sermons when they are traveling or ill, and to re-listen if they wish."

For the Resurrection Church, podcasts are viewed as "another way of reaching new and different people," Metz said. "What is neat about podcasting is that it is going to reach younger people... who are the toughest folk to reach." Although young people are watching less television and not reading newspapers, they are into technology, he said. "This is an opportunity to catch some of these folk in ways that we have not been able to in the past."

Metz said it is not as important for churches to use emerging technology as to be constantly looking for new ways to reach out to people. Our mission is to create a church where not only religious people but also the non-religious are becoming deeply committed Christians, he said. "Those people are tough to reach and tough to attract to a church. So we are simply looking for ways to reach out to those folks in non-traditional ways."

Generation-X United Methodists don't simply rely on print, telephones and e-mail to communicate, but they also use text messaging and blogging and are "now creating their own grass-roots movements through podcasting technology," said Matt Carlisle, director of Web ministry at United Methodist Communications. "Technology will never replace our very real need for human nurturing or face-to-face ministry," he said. "Evangelism and ministry with our youth and future generations of this denomination will look much different-technology will most certainly play a factor in the delivery."

Video streaming is another popular internet tool that was once the domain of businesses. Churches are using it to enable people to watch their pastors give sermons online. Who those people are is not known. "We don't know if they are our members who happen to be out of town and want to stay current with the sermon series, if these are people who don't go to church or can't get to church, or if they are people from out of town who are just curious about what Adam is preaching about," Metz said. "I am sure it is a broad range of people."

Churchwide agencies like United Methodist Communications and the United Methodist Board of Discipleship are using podcasts to inform the church and to provide words of healing, comfort and inspiration-tools of evangelism. Last year's hurricanes compelled two staff members of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship to provide words of comfort through podcasting. The Revs. Kwasi Kena and Safiyah Fosua offered "An Unshakable Hope For Your Journey"-readings of the psalms and other comforting verses during a national disaster.