MEET THE INSTAGRAM VICAR, STREAMING STRAIGHT TO YOUR SCREEN

Aside from 20 minutes of silent prayer, the Rev Chris Lee starts his day like any other busy father of two: by preparing breakfast – his signature dish of “raisin-topped porridge” – for his children, four-year-old Rose and one-year-old Saoirse. But once a week, they are joined by hundreds of social media users who log on to eat breakfast with them, live on Instagram. “We chat to the people watching,” says the 37-year-old vicar. “No one wants to be eating alone during these times.” Live-streaming his family breakfast is just one way Rev Lee – who goes by the Instagram handle @revchris7 and has been compared to the “Hot Priest” from the BBC TV series Fleabag – is aiming to combat loneliness among his 151,000 followers, which he worries has intensified during the coronavirus pandemic. “Another couple of weeks and we’re going to see people struggling with mental health, anxiety and fear,” he says. For his latest innovation, the “Instavicar” – whose Sunday services at St Saviour’s Church in Acton, west London, are streamed via the Zoom app – runs a midday “Prayer, Praise, Preach” session live online. “It’s where I invite people from all over the world to pray and share their screens with me.” Although he admits this can be a bit of a gamble – “you don’t know what will appear” – he has had people tune in from New Zealand and Hong Kong. “Not just Christians, either,” he says. “I hear from atheists who say they watch me for the positive messages, or Muslims who value how I talk about God.”