A PREACHER has decided to boldly go where no cleric has gone before by writing the gospel according to Star Trek.

Alyson Leslie, an Episcopalian lay pastor from Newport-on-Tay in Fife, hopes to spread the word of God by appealing to fans of the science fiction series.

Her Star Trek gospel provides a list of religious and moral parables that can be drawn from episodes of the programme, which celebrates its 40th birthday this year...

The Star Trek Gospels have been backed by the Scottish Episcopal church. “We do encourage innovative and modern means of communicating the message of the gospels,” said a spokeswoman.

However, it is unlikely that the late Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek’s creator, would have approved. “Religions vary in their degree of idiocy, but I reject them all,” he said before his death. “I condemn the effort to take away the power of rational decision, to drain people of free will and a hell of a lot of money into the bargain.”