A rule change that allows TV evangelists to appeal for money on screen has thrown a lifeline to religious channels.

The Revelation TV channel has revised its financial strategies to benefit from the new rules and appeal directly to viewers for funds.

It said that it had been struggling to raise about £600,000 a year to stay afloat. But in five years’ time it hopes to raise £5million a year from viewers.

The change, opposed by the Church of England as having “a clear potential for exploiting viewers’ sensitivities”, comes after a consultation process by the regulator Ofcom. It found that channels being beamed in from overseas, and therefore not subject to British broadcasting rules, rendered the previous regulations ineffectual.

The new rules come with caveats such as “not creating unrealistic expectations of what a donor’s gift will actually accomplish”. Ofcom said: “There is evidence that this move will help religious broadcasters who otherwise might not be able to get off the ground by giving them a way to raise money.

“The decision to allow this involved rules to ensure that viewers are not exploited. We will be closely observing anyone who wants to use them.” The change was welcomed by Revelation’s boss, Howard Conder, 60, a former drummer and record producer for Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager.

He said: “I said to Ofcom last year that I was going to have to break the law. It wasn’t fair that the channels broadcasting via satellite from overseas could appeal for funds when we couldn’t ask for anything on-air, or even thank anyone who had sent anything in.

“I’m sure the televangelism stuff [financial scandals in the US] has affected the debate here. We’re sickened by it. We are not going to promise any miracles to people or use scriptures to cajole them for money and all that rubbish.

“All we want to do is tell people how much we need to run the channel, and show them what our shortfall is. At the moment we want an outside broadcast van so we can broadcast from other cities. We want to do less of the preaching and more documentaries.”

Mr Conder says he works 20 hours a day and needs 50 staff but has 20 working for an average of £15,000 a year. His youngest daughter, Bethany, 11, presents the children’s hour. Another three offspring work on the technical side. He and his wife have remortgaged their house “so many times” to keep funding the channel.

The change could also pave the way for greater involvement of American evangelicals in Britain. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, one of America’s biggest ministries, said that it was aware of the rule change and “right now we are consulting with our partners in the UK and considering a range of options”.

Britain has always enforced a hardline policy on television appeals for donations for fear that viewers could be conned out of money by emotive imagery.

Twelve satellite channels beam Christianity to Britain. Ten broadcast from outside the UK and so are out of Ofcom’s jurisdiction. UCB, the other British channel, said that it would not appeal for funds.

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