For millions of die-hard soap fans, the goings-on in Coronation Street and Albert Square have almost become a religion.

Now a village church is seeking to turn the tables by cashing in on the popularity of Britain's favourite soaps to boost their own 'ratings'.

Memembers of Burley-in-Wharfedale Methodist Church are staging a series of four Sunday evening services based on analyses of Coronation Street and Eastenders.

For the next few weeks worshippers will be likely to hear about the dramas surrounding the death of the Street's gentle giant Dennis Stringer in the Street and the tug-of-love over baby Louise Fowler in Albert Square as they are about Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.

Between the hymns and prayers, churchgoers will be shown video clips from the soaps and asked to consider whether Christian attitudes are reflected in how the shows deal with themes like love, death, rivalry and revenge through their story lines.

The series, which starts on Sunday, is the brainchild of Methodist lay preacher Michael Hardstaffe, who will lead the services with church minister the Reverend Philip Macdonald.

Mr Hardstaffe, 60, a retired Ofsted schools inspector who lives in Burley, said: "The idea for the services came out of a study on ethics I did as part of the Christian Studies Diploma I'm doing.

"The study examined the way TV programmes present a whole range of issues and the extent to which they reflect Christian attitudes.

"There are Christian and un-Christian attitudes reflected in both these soaps - a good example is the death of Dennis in Coronation Street.

"There was a lot of very bitter hostility between him, his girlfriend Janice, her husband Les and Dennis's former girlfriend Eileen before his death.

"But there are some very interesting Christian messages to be drawn from him going to help Les Battersby when he tried to kill himself - there was almost a sense of self-sacrifice in it - and his death and funeral bringing Janice and Eileen together.''

Mr Hardstaffe, who is an avid Street fan but rarely watches Eastenders, added: "Church attendances are in decline but each week you get 12 or 13 million people tuning into Coronation Street and Eastenders. They are almost a religion for some people. People regard them with great devotion, feel upset if they miss an episode, believe what's happening is real, and think the actors are like their characters in real life.

"Our services are open to anyone. Hopefully doing something different but relevant like this will help to attract bigger congregations and result in people going away with a view that Christianity is relevant.''

"The idea is to focus on how issues are presented by the media, which has such a powerful impact on people's lives.

"If it proves successful we might try and branch out and try using documentaries or extracts from plays in the future.''

Reverend Macdonald said he watched neither soap but added: "I'm very conscious that a lot of people, including churchgoers, watch them quite religiously and I think it's a good idea to try and look at some of the issues they raise in more depth.

"It's part of our church policy to approach worship in different ways, and have different styles of service, and I hope this will attract people.''

With refurbishment currently work being carried out at the Methodist church, the services will be held at Salem United Reformed Church Hall on Main Street, Burley, on January 13 and 20 and February 3 and 10.

Services start at 6pm - giving worshippers the chance to get home in time for Corrie!.