TWO North Yorkshire Radio journalists based in York have decided to jazz up the Sunday morning God slot. Out goes "hymn of the week" and in comes... jokes and laughter.

"We wanted to try to make the show less like a Sunday sermon and more like a colour supplement," says presenter Andrew Carter.

He says "we" because one of those also involved in the preparation of the Sunday Show is 23-year-old journalist, James Gordon.

"I saw Andrew preparing for his show one morning and asked him if he'd like to hear a religious joke - it was a Jewish one (they're the best after all) - and we just fell about the place laughing.

"Then I suggested we could have a regular feature where we talk about humour in religion."

The response was tremendous. Despite the show's early time slot, within a fortnight of the new programme going out, letters poured in from listeners across the county delighted to have a breath of fresh air coming from their radio.

"I couldn't believe it when one morning there were five letters from people who had written in with their own religious jokes and humorous anecdotes" says a bewildered James. "I really felt like we had connected so well with our audience."

(Five letters, James? Now you are joking!)

As well as James bringing his own inimitable brand of Jewish humour, in recent months clergymen of all denominations have chipped in with their own.

James says: "Everyone loves a good giggle and the best thing about telling religious jokes is that it plays upon the stereotypes that people already hold - but kind of says, 'yes, it's okay to laugh at this - that's the way things are'.

"We have put the fun back into faith," says Andrew.

BBC North Yorkshire (Radio York)'s Sunday Breakfast Show goes out between 6am and 8am every Sunday Morning. Tune into 103.7 in York, 104.3 in Harrogate and 95.5 in Scarborough.

CHILDREN from Acomb Primary School are busy with their version of the Christmas classic Scrooge called, appropriately enough, Scrooge - A Ghost of A Chance, which they performed last night and will again next Monday.

Head teacher Howard Robinson told me: "Scrooge was chosen because the Key Stage Two children have been doing work on Victorians.

"The whole school is involved and no one is left out - the children love it."

Last week the school's infants performed their nativity play rather quirkily called Hump The Camel.

My mind is running riot at the imagery...

HOW about this for Christmas largesse? The lucky workers at Monkhill Confectionery, on Low Poppleton Lane, York, cannot wait to splash their Christmas bonus... a £2.85 voucher to spend in the works shop.

That must be enough to keep them in midget gems for well over a day.

Turpin salutes this embodiment of the festive spirit. But can you beat it? Is your Christmas bonus even more of a gobstopper?

If so, give me a call on (01904) 653051 or email me on turpin@ycp.co.uk - nothing would please me more than to publicise these good works on your behalf...

LAST week I asked you to name five roads within Yorks city walls. The response was amazing. Sixteen more postmen were taken on to cope with extra mail.

So try these: Cromwell, Station, Navigation, St Deny's and Queen's Staith roads.

Three free CDS go to Deborah Walton, Barmby Moor, near Pocklington, who was delighted when I broke the news to her.

"We never win anything but his time I got my four-year-old daughter Lily to kiss the answers on the envelope I sent in and... well, it worked," she told me.

STEVEN Wright is an American wag who shares his illuminating insights with the world via the Internet. Here are some of his good ones:

* I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.

* Borrow money from pessimists - they don't expect it back.

* Half the people you know are below average.

* 99 per cent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.

* 42.7 per cent of all statistics are made up on the spot.

* A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory

* Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

* What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

* My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."

* Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?

* If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

* The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

* To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.

* OK, so what's the speed of dark?

Updated: 17:14 Friday, December 13, 2002