Line-dancing is to be banned from Free Presbyterian wedding receptions as it "sullies the sanctity of the ceremony", the church has decreed.
In a statement read to all Free Presbyterian congregations, the head of the church, the Rev Ian Paisley, denounced line-dancing as "aiding and abetting fleshly lusts which war against the soul".
Dr Paisley's letter states: "Line-dancing is as sinful as any other type of dancing, with its sexual gestures and touching . . . No Christian who is in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit should engage in it."
A senior cleric in the church, the Rev David McIlveen, said that Dr Paisley's letter was particularly aimed at putting a halt to line-dancing at Free Presbyterian wedding receptions.
At ordination, Free Presbyterian ministers vowed to "denounce dancing, drinking, gambling and the crazes of the present evil world, something of which line-dancing is very much a part".