Aldrige's TikTok vicar sends out thousands of free Bibles

A vicar has sent out more than 3,140 free Bibles on request after an impromptu offer he made on TikTok blew up his inbox. In May last year, the Reverend David Sims from St Thomas Church in Aldridge, Walsall, put out "a ridiculous video" offering free Bibles to anyone who asked. "I made up a little song which was, if you want a Bible, message me for a free one," he said. He woke up the next morning to find himself inundated by requests. "I think I had about 500 messages overnight," he said. "It had tens of thousands of views. It just went on like that for a good few weeks." Keen to not turn anyone away, his church sprang into action. "We started doing a weekly Bible packing party every Monday morning," Sims said, adding the books are blessed as they are packed. Volunteers dispatch them with a handwritten note and a booklet pointing recipients towards their closest Alpha or introduction to Christianity course. While the church paid for some of the books, the volume of requests made it necessary to start a crowdfunding page, which has raised more than £10,500 in just under a year. The vicar has had requests from as far afield as Africa and Asia, and although finances do not allow to h