LONDON (AP) -- Election drama? St. Chad knows all about it. And he may have a message for Al Gore and George W. Bush.

The seventh-century cleric, who humbly bowed out when his election as bishop was disputed, is enjoying a renaissance, thanks to the drawn-out fight for the U.S. presidency.

Officials of St. Chad's church in Lichfield in central England report a surge in hits on their Web site, due to the growing interest in "chads," the tiny pieces of paper produced when some U.S. voters pierce their ballots.

Instead of the usual four or five hits a day, the site is receiving several hundred visitors after the Washington Post joked Nov. 21 that Chad "would be the perfect patron saint for disputed elections."

"We are delighted to have so many visitors," said the church's rector, Rev. Jill Warren, adding that there may be "a lesson to be learned from Chad's election as Bishop of the Northumbrians 1,300 years ago."

Ancient chronicles show Chad was consecrated Bishop of the Northumbrians in 665 in place of the Abbot of Ripon, who had gone missing. But two years later the abbot turned up, and in 669 the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore of Tarsus, declared Chad's consecration invalid.

Chad humbly stepped aside, declaring, "If you know I have not duly received episcopal ordination, I willingly resign the office, for I never thought myself worthy of it; but, though unworthy, in obedience submitted to undertake it."

Moved by Chad's attitude, Theodore appointed him as Lichfield's first bishop.

"There really is a message in the actions of St. Chad and we pray for all those involved in determining the outcome of the American election," Warren said.

Born in northeastern England in the 620s, Chad entered holy orders in Ireland. As Bishop of Lichfield, he insisted on walking everywhere, not wanting to put himself above his parishioners. He died of the plague in 672.

St. Chad's church serves a parish of around 16,000 people. Each year, hundreds of visitors make a pilgrimage to the church and a nearby well which, tradition holds, is the spring where Chad baptized his converts into the Christian faith.