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NORTH ATTLEBORO - Preaching to the masses just got a whole lot easier.

Thanks to video-sharing sites such as YouTube, anyone can play evangelist with the touch of a mouse or the click of a keyboard.

Paul Newcum, 67, of North Attleboro, began uploading his own Christian messages to YouTube a month ago. His videos - which last just a few minutes each - tackle a range of tough topics, from evolution and atheism to sin and pain. The overall theme, Newcum insists, is that God loves and cares for people.

It took Newcum a year and an estimated 2,000 hours of work to create his mini-movies, which he spliced together from clips he found on the Internet.

The computer programmer and former IBM employee targets scientific skeptics. The former atheist now makes a ministry of helping others find God, in part by trying to debunk the science that led him to once reject God. Newcum calls his dismissal of some scientific theories, "a proven thing," saying, "It's not my opinion; it's what science finds."

Yet evolution, the Big Bang theory and the nature of God are hardly open-and-shut cases in the religious community, much less the scientific world. Plus, Newcum is not, nor does he profess to be, a theologian or a scientist. His degrees are in economics, business and computers.

Such discrepancies point to the changes happening with the Web's democracy.

"The standard for many churches has been to rely on experts, professionally and spiritually trained leaders who interpret modern life and doctrine," said Lee Rainie, who directs the Pew Internet and American Life Forum.

"In an age where everybody can be a preacher or an evangelist online, that changes the power structure of those institutions. It is no longer the privilege of the gatekeepers to share information with the masses."

Newcum prefers to keep his church affiliation out of the spotlight, saying he is "a normal, everyday Christian" of the Protestant variety. "I'm just a layperson, and I try to use what's been given to me," he said.

Such online evangelism may be more problematic for churches with a stronger hierarchy and authority, such as the Roman Catholic Church. Rev. Ron Gagne, of Attleboro's LaSalette Shrine, is the communications director for the Missionaries of LaSalette, a Roman Catholic religious order.

Until recently, he had never been on YouTube or realized the number of videos posted there by outsiders about the Shrine or the LaSalette ministry.

"It's so interesting that someone from halfway around the world can just post it up there," said Gagne, "There are LaSalette postings from around the world. It's like taking a trip around the world in regards to our own ministry."

One such video was uploaded by Cody Sain, who completed a graduate degree from Boston College in May, but who now lives in Houston, Texas. Sain, 24, and his wife spent two months staying with relatives in Attleboro after the birth of their son. The couple enjoyed frequent trips to LaSalette Shrine, and Sain later posted an informational video about the order on his YouTube account. "I think it is a good medium," said Sain of YouTube. "It can really promote what you believe in, defending it against people who may misrepresent it."

Gagne thinks the technology is wonderful, but sees the risk of misrepresentation. "There is a caution about people posting things they think are Catholic without a theological background," he said.

"They may say things that are not correct. Once it's out there, it's out there. They could say some terrible things and there's no recourse."

Still, if you can't beat them, join them. Gagne said, "Our Lady, when she appeared, said, 'Make this message known to all my people.' That's the human cry of our community. My office is to make the message known, as the Director of Communications. I'm trying to do that in lots of different ways."

Later this summer, Gagne plans to compile two vocational videos about the LaSalette Missionaries, which he will deliberately post on YouTube.

"A whole bunch of religious orders are on there," said Gagne. "We're not on there yet and I want to be."

Churches and religious folks are finding the Internet indispensable in evangelism efforts. More than a third of Web users have gotten religious information online, and that figure is rising, according to Rainie.

A testament to the popularity of YouTube technology with Christians is evident in the creation of GodTube, a Christian alternative to the secular site. A year old this month, GodTube was the fastest-growing site on the Web when it debuted.

Newcum posted his clips on GodTube two weeks ago. In terms of numbers, he seems to be finding more favor when preaching to the choir. While most of his videos on YouTube have viewers in the single digits, his page views on GodTube are already as high as four and five hundred.

Newcum thinks he's done with video production for now, but the grandfather looks forward to continued contact with viewers. He advertises his Web site and videos with bumper stickers on his car.

Next, Newcum plans to walk through area bus and train stations, holding a sign for his ministry and talking through a portable loudspeaker.

"Nine out of ten are going to think you're completely nuts, but my concern is not what they think of me," Newcum said. "It's obviously hitting people at some level."

To learn more about Newcum's videos, go to his Web site at www.you-God-loves.org or visit www.youtube.com or www.godtube.com and search for "paulnewc."