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To Tweet or Not To Tweet – Why your church should not use Twitter

December 18, 2009 in Productivity with 8 Comments

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You’ve seen other churches and ministries use it, you’ve heard a lot about it, and you’re thinking, “Maybe we should start a Twitter.” Well hold your venti double shot skinny frappachino, hipster. Here are some things to think about before you jump on the bandwagon of 140 characters and Re-Tweets.

photo via xotoko

  • Do You Know What You’re Doing? – The great thing about Twitter is its simplicity of use. Anyone can start using it right off the spot without much instruction. However, there is some culture that only exists in the world of Twitter. Chances are, the people who would benefit from your church being on Twitter, have been on there for awhile and are already well adapted. Last thing you want is to apologize for incorrect usage.
    • Instead – Start your own personal Twitter for a little while. Test the water, see if you can envision ways for your church or ministry to be useful if they had an account. Follow other church accounts to see what they’re doing.

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Godly Tweets

July 13, 2009 in Productivity with 0 Comments

GodlyTweetsDo you secretly tweet in church? Well, if your 140-characters-or-less words of wisdom can’t wait for the service to end, and you attended Westwinds Community Church in Jackson, Michigan, then your little tweeting powers could be used for good.  Senior Pastors John Voelz and David McDonald made headlines recently for setting up Twitter Sundays by allowing the church goers to tweet with their phones or laptops while their live feed tweets are displayed on the monitor above the platform. After some Twitter training sessions, they powered up their WiFi and let their members tweet their thoughts for all the congregation to see.

A Twitter Sunday may be a little more than what your church is capable of, but it could be a suggestion to help other church goers interact with each other outside of the pew and Sunday afternoon pot luck. Typically, you only see your fellow pew sitters once or twice a week, and during that time, you are only sitting there and listening.  There is hardly any interaction outside of the people in your row that you watch out of the corner of your eye, and the balding scalp of the guy in front of you.  If you were able to convince a majority of a congregation or Bible study group to join together through a social network like Twitter or Facebook, it can be a terrific ice breaker for those who are on the shyer side.  If you’re a pastor or church leader, it can also be a great way to keep in contact and involved with your congregation. Facebook may be a little more invading than you may want (you probably don’t want Door Greeter Henry seeing your Hawaii vacation pics and don’t care to know what Disney character Choir Director Chuck is). Twitter offers a limited, yet informational snip-it from your life that could be the conversational starter for a great relationship.

Twittering in Church, with the Pastor’s O.K. [Time]

ps. You can also follow us on twitter HERE!