Dial a Prayer

Dial a Prayer

Sorry, this film is not available for viewing online

To view this film and the entire Digital Film Archive collection, please visit your nearest Digital Film Archive Location.

Details

Location

Belfast

Year

1964

Date

05 June 1964 (Txn date)

Length

01min 04sec

Audio

silent

Format

16mm

black and white

Source

Courtesy

British Film Institute, UTV

Rights Holder

ITV

Description

Is salvation only a phone call away?

What did worshippers do before YouTube? Call the prayer hotline of course. The Dial-a craze began in the mid 50s with electronic secretaries (tape recorders) providing pre-recorded words of spiritual comfort. From 1955 churches in the UK and US opened their prayer lines with slogans like “you can save your soul right at home”. It didn’t stop there soon you could dial-a-sermon, dial-a-hymn, or even dial-a-saint but it would be at least a decade before you could dial-a-joke.

Notes

As technology has continued to change so have innovations in prayer services. Christians can now use an email prayer request line, download audio sermons or watch prayers and Church services on YouTube. RTÉ continues to broadcast the Angelus every day in Ireland; although it has been revamped as “a pause for prayer” since it began on radio in 1950. The prayer hotline shown in these silent news rushes is possibly associated with the Seventh Day Adventist church in Northern Ireland. This material is Courtesy of the UTV Archive.


Credits

Courtesy of the UTV archive.

Digitised as part of Unlocking Film Heritage.
 

Links

×

Please scroll to review and accept our terms and conditions (last updated on ) before viewing the moving images content.

To remember your terms and conditions acceptance, you can register as a site member or allow cookies on your browser.