Holy smoke! Gaffe makes vicar an internet star

Canon Dr Graham Kings, 53, blew out the flames before quipping to his startled 400-strong congregation "God said 'Let there be light'".

The vicar, from St Mary's Church in Islington, north London, received a round of applause for his joke and has won thousands of new admirers online.

Over 12,000 people have watched the clip on trendy video-sharing website YouTube alone.

The gaffe was filmed on a camcorder by the church's 18-year-old sound engineer Thomas Wright. At the time, the vicar was highlighting the plight of orphans with AIDS in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa.