They received a crisp £10 note as they left St Cross Church - and told to go forth and multiply that sum.

"We did not force people to take the money, but rather distributed it to those who wanted it," said the Rev Julian Heaton.

By updating one of Jesus' famed teachings - The Parable of the Talents - Mr Heaton hopes each parishioner will use the £10 to make more money for the church.

In the parable, a man gives his workers ten talents and tells them to return it in a month with the fruits of that money.

Two of the men double the money by investment and creativity, but the third buries the money and comes back with the same amount.

The moral of the story is that creativity should not be buried.

"One of the positive things this does is to show that people do have talents and can be creative with the talents they have," he said.

"We need encouragement to put them to good use and also provide a financial spin-off for the church."