A while back, a woman in her 80′s come up to me after church to tell me her twitter name. After taking a step back, I asked, “Why are you on Twitter?”
She said, “Hearing your devotional thoughts and about your life each day through Twitter makes me feel like I’ve had a visit with you every day. Everyone should sign up. You should Tweet more!”
The light bulb turned on. From that day on, I have tried to start each day with a devotional first tweet, and have included tweets that will help members connect. The response has amazed me.
Can Twitter be a new way of reaching church members?
I have often said that I forgot to take the class in Seminary titled “How To Be Two Places At Once.” If you have done any church work, you know what I mean….there are too many places to be, too many great people to spend time with, and too few hours in the day.
Now, my friend in her 80′s has made me think “younger” about connecting with members. Go figure.
I timeshare my work week between traveling around helping large churches find staff, and leading Cypress Creek Christian Church. Because I am not on the Cypress campus all the time, I am always looking for ways to connect with our people remotely. Much to my surprise, my “mature” friend was right. Twitter has become invaluable.
I know that Twitter doesn’t have all the answers.
The Word became flesh, not the other way around.
That’s the heart of the Gospel, and nothing will ever replace face to face meetings (that’s a big part of why my search work involves travel). Not everyone in a church will be on twitter or facebook. But as I continue to see the value of pastoral tweets, status updates, and social media, I wonder why more pastors don’t leverage this valuable new means of reaching people.
If you’re hesitant, or just uninspired consider these statistics (read via a post by Joshua Cody):
- It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million listeners. Terrestrial TV took 13 years to reach 50 million users. The Internet took four years to reach 50 million people… In less than nine months, Facebook added 100 million users.
- Universal McCann reports that 77% of all active internet users regularly read blogs.
- More than 120 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day and more than 30 million users update their statuses at least once each day. Combined, more than 5 billion minutes are spent on the site on a daily basis.
- Over the past 12 months, Twitter’s year-on-year growth rate has broken the 1000% barrier.
- If Facebook were a country, it would be the fourth most populated place in the world. This means it easily beats the likes of Brazil, Russia and Japan in terms of size.
Every seminal Kingdom breakthrough has come on the heels of a communication breakthrough. In the wake of the greatest communication breakthrough ever, something is about to change in Church.
So what’s your practice? What should the church be doing with Twitter? What are your thoughts?
To tweet, or not to tweet….that is the question. I’d love to hear your answers.
Definitely to tweet. Love reading your devotional thoughts first thing in the morning. It’s a great start to my day.
WV,
Excellent! I’ve recently been contemplating Hebrews 10:25 and the application of that passage given modern technology’s broad reach and ability to bring people together from all walks of life, from various regions and hemispheres.
I appreciate your writing style. It is engaging and personally inspiring.
Please continue your daily posts and Thanks for being a friend.
Blessings!
Keep Ya Head Up!
That is the truth.
All of a sudden the people at church can now follow the daily lives of their pastors.
Sunday isn’t about “What’d you do this week?”
Because they know.
I think facebook & Twitter are great tools. In this digital age we have to find a way to use it as a way of proclaiming Christ. I’ve realized that for some people, their pastor is a connection to God. That’s a sobering thought since pastors are just as human as anyone else. Hopefully the use of facebook & Twitter by pastors can point others to the real living Christ.
I like keeping in touch with you. I still haven’t moved on to Twitter. Don’t see the need. God bless!
I am a bit confused my wife and i got a wonderful bundel of joy a puppy! After we had been with him for three month tragicall he was killed do to a hit and run driver? How can I best help my wife deal with this loss and help he to move forward! We will miss Max everyday and it is sad that someone could hit a dog and just keep on going?
although I have not used Twitter, I have received numerous testimonies that it is a great tool for reaching out the a mass amount of people in a relatively direct way. Pastors taking the approach of using the internet tools as a way of spreading the good news is an awesome revelation and mirroring to how God desires to connect with us directly and spiritually. i think you are doing a wonderful and grand thing William. As it says in 1Timothy 6…let’s keep fighting the good fight of faith
). Please keep in touch William
I couldn’t agree more. Our pastor continually says that in order to reach the world we’re going to have to do ministry different than we have the past 25 years.
We, as a staff, are encouraged to be on Facebook and Twitter and to maximize the opportunities that the internet offers us. So it certainly works for communication with our teams. But it’s also a place for personal feeding. I regularly check in with Lifechurch.tv and NPOnline.com . To try and feed my soul. And many of these links come from a trusted Twitter follower or a Facebook friend.
But at the end of the day, it all hinges on relationships. So we are going to have to find a place where relationships are formed and true discipleship takes place (whether it be physically or digitally.)
Thanks for the article. Good stuff.
Awesome post, William. It’s Relational, Relevant, Risk-taking, Inclusive, Generous AND Fun!
Sure, why not? If you have the time & interest, and it’s not a distraction that keeps you less focused on your primary calling (including family), then I’d say go for it. Jesus said to make disciples, and gave us imaginations to figure out how. Brian McLaren wrote an excellent book several years ago called *More Ready than You Realize* about a two-year email spiritual conversation he had with a woman, in which he eventually led her to make a profession of faith in Christ. God is not limited by anything – and can use everything – we do and use to bring people to Himself.
Virtually. But not really. Virtual reality is getting closer and closer. It sounds good on the surface, but I fear in the long run, it will result in greater isolation of the individual. Tweeting lacks the sound of the human voice, the direct look of eyes into eyes, and the communication of unspoken thoughts and feelings, never mind the reassurance of a hug. Yes, tweeting will suffice for a lot of intellectual exchange, but it will never provide the human contact necessary to the human soul.
Twitter is a part of POP culture? As long as Ne0-evangelical Twittering is part of a solid face to face foundation it appeals. I prefer to breathe the same air as my moral mentors but recognize that the Internet has created an instantaneous venue that has no borders – very tempting! I grew up in churches where the minister was on site 24 hours a day. The visual presence of the collar made us all stand a little straighter. How do we TWIT that?
[...] am attracted to several good uses of Twitter in church. At Catalyst, a live feed asking for reactions to the messages was posted on screens between talks, [...]