The Rev. Steve Rice helped videotape so many weddings and other events for his father's video-production studio that he swore he'd never pick up a camera again.

He changed his mind after he realized the camera might be a tool to help bring young people and Internet users closer to Christ and to the Episcopal Church.

Six months ago, the rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Waynesboro, Ga., started St. Michael's TV, a series of video shorts that he posts on the popular Web site YouTube.

Rather than simply recording Sunday sermons (which are common on YouTube), the Rev. Rice comes up with various outside-the-box ideas and themes, then composes scripts and shoots, edits and uploads the videos.

In his most recent, Dirty Job, inspired by the Discovery Channel show Dirty Jobs, the Rev. Rice stands next to potter Bill Resseau's pottery wheel, working with dirt and clay and describing God as "a dirty man."

"So, if God was the first potter, and God made you and me, and we make pottery out of dirt, how did that happen? How did God make you and me?" he asks Mr. Resseau before trying to form a creation from dirt alone.

Mr. Resseau responds that the Rev. Rice is not God, so he has to add water.

"God may be able to take dust and dirt and make a creation, but you and I have made that creation dirty. We need water," he says, looking at the camera, speaking over a low, rhythmic instrumental of guitar and snare drum beats. "Want to be clean? Want to be a new creation? Just add water, the waters of baptism.

"Fortunately, God is still in the potting business. And at the Episcopal Church, we make new pots every day - taking ordinary dirt, and just adding water."

THE REV. RICE SAID HE GOT the idea for St. Michael's TV from the Rev. Matthew Moretz, a former Augusta priest who is now the curate of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Yonkers, N.Y. The Rev. Moretz has drawn national attention for his series, Father Matthew Presents, which is touted as a series that gives a close-up view of the Episcopal church in the 21st century.

"He did YouTube to get a younger audience. I told him I was going to steal his idea," the Rev. Rice said. "A lot of stuff today is done on computer; we're just adapting to the way the culture is moving."

To him, this is a convenient way to get the word out about the Episcopal Church.

"It's cheap, relatively easy. ... This is a way - a noninvasive way - to introduce people to not only faith, but also the Episcopal Church - a way that's not in your face. It can be entertaining, hopefully enlightening, and invite people to St. Michael's," he said. "The videos are St. Michael's- and Episcopal-specific but also have an ecumenical feel to them. They invite people to come to the faith in general."

The priest's titles include Super Bowl Sunday, Did You Know You're Catholic? and a stop-animation piece, Anima Christi. He tries to spoof popular television shows, as he did with another Discovery Channel show, Man vs. Wild; his version is called Priest vs. Wild.

The Rev. Rice hopes to replicate the more-than-96,000 views the Rev. Moretz's 37 videos have gotten.

So far, his 13 videos have had more than 8,200 hits, several by people from other countries who have subscribed to his YouTube page.

A couple of his videos are longer than seven minutes, but most are shorter than five minutes. Some videos have been embedded in other people's blogs and MySpace pages, he said.

They're getting people talking, with comments ranging from praise to disbelief that he's a priest.

One person's comments read: "At last here is a site on YT where a Christian voice is not being uttered by a certifiable raving lunatic. Many thanks Father Steve: this is a refreshing message."

Another comment read: "Dude, (were) you ACTUALLY driving your car while shooting the driving scenes of this thing? Are you insane?"

His Does God Exist? video stirred up four months of lengthy online debates.

STANDING IN THE POTTERY shed watching the Rev. Rice and her husband shoot the footage for Dirty Job, Anne Resseau told the rector that she has met someone who discovered the YouTube series and is now interested in going to St. Michael's.

"I'm bringing somebody to church tomorrow night," she told the priest. "He found the videos online and said, 'You've got to be left of center down there doing those.' I think it's a great form of advertisement."

The Resseaus have been members of St. Michael's for 16 years. They said that they find the series wonderful and that young people like it.

Mr. Resseau said helping the Rev. Rice shoot his latest installment "was the right thing to do."

"It gets a good message across and piques people's interest, gets them coming back and wanting more," he said.

Creating videos twice a month takes more time than simply recording and posting his Sunday sermon, but he didn't feel that simply posting sermons would be as effective.

"Those are already out there," he said. "If people are not going to church, they're not going to be interested in watching a sermon."

It also lets people see another side of a church.

"That it can be creative, fun, can have a sense of humor," he said. "It also presents another side of what priests are like. It's just something you don't see every day."

Reach C. Samantha McKevie at (706) 823-3552 or samantha.mckevie@augustachronicle.com.