Churches in Northern Ireland are rarely different from churches to be found anywhere in the world. Traditional methods of doing church have been established over many years and there is a mentality that if it is not broken then don’t fix it.
So anyone trying to bring about change in the way things have been done, like installing modern equipment such AV equipment, projector and LCD screens or the really big no no, the style of music would quickly find opposition. But the thing is, most church denominations are keen to share the Christian message and make the church experience relevant to those coming into the church.
So take the Seattle church that encourages Twittering during the service. Imagine churches here in Northern Ireland or the even on the mainland introducing and encouraging parishioners to tweet with followers about the sermon while in the service, but that is exactly what happens at Mars Hill Church in Seattle.
The church promotes twittering throughout the service. Imagine the picture, at any time dozens of churchgoers are typing brief messages, of 140 characters or less, for the church’s own Twitter page. The idea is that church members are conveying their feelings about the sermon as it’s taking place. They are trying to get back to that basic sense of feeling how the service impacts them, what the worship feels like, what thoughts the sermon provokes and they take all this outside the building to their friends and the world in general
Lichlin Payne an Australian traveling the US to experience the different church services available, welcomes technological adaption to the new media by churches to communicate worshipers’ feelings. He quoted as saying “I remember 10, 15 years ago you couldn’t wear a hat in church, and now you can get out your mobile phones and twitter, so these things change and you’ve got to move with the times”.
I don’t know about the church you attend, but I can’t see many of our congregation rushing to grab their iPhones to tweet a thought about the sermon. Perhaps I should try it this Sunday and see what type of response I get, but I am interested in how tweeting effects the experience.
View Mars Hill Church Story: Twittering-encouraged-at-seattle-church
