Live Twittering a Church Service?  Oh Yeah!

Orginally published on Monday, June 16, 2008 at 8:33 AM
by Todd Rhoades

John Voelz from Westwinds Church writes: "In my church, I have seen life-altering small groups formed and forged through Twitter. I have seen teams of people mobilized to do volunteer service like nothing else in the past through Twitter. I have seen needs met financially through Twitter. I have made friends through Twitter. I have witnessed theological discussions, seen prayer answered, seen surprise rendezvous’, connected with leaders better, I've seen friends come to the aid of others health...

So we started wondering, what would it be like to bring the Twitter kind of participation into Fusion in the same way we would think through any other worship interactive—something that gets people involved in what is happening—so Fusion isn’t happening “to” them but rather “with and because of and through” them.

Sunday morning there was electricity in the air. iPhones and laptops were carried in one hand—coffee in the other. The live stream was going. Over 70 people were following “westwindsseries” on Twitter.

The big screen as well as two other screens were live with the Twitter feed as people came in. Through communion, songs, message, etc. Twitter was live for our inaugural Twitter Fusion. Live and VERY present.

The conversation began light.

“Nice shirt JVo,”
“I love this song,”
“So glad they are doing Lenny Kravitz,”
“Somebody turn Jimmy’s guitar up,”
“Westwinds rocks,”
“Thank God for coffee at church”
One girl Twittered from home she was late and on her way. Ha.

And, while the light conversation was present through all of Fusion—both Fusions—there was also some great interaction with the message, restating what was said, personal struggles shared, opinions, agreement, etc.

“to be selfless, humble”
“The more I press in to Him, the more He presses me out to be useful”
“sometimes healing is painful”
“I have a hard time recognizing God in the middle of everything.”
“It is easy to give Him credit after the fact but it is my prayer to see Him now.”
“God is challenging us to live for Him in a culture that rejects Him—His own peers did that”
“He has given me so much”

Both kinds of interaction were important. The “deeper” thoughts allowed people to process out loud, be affirmed by others’ responses, and have a bit of public confession.

The light talk only added to the sense of community, family, fun, and not taking ourselves too seriously.

It “felt” like a success right off the bat.

Read all of John’s post (there’s a lot more to it) here.

What do you think?  What implications/ministry potentials does Twitter (or new technology like Twitter) have for your church?  And… are you willing to risk trying new things like this?

Oh… and you can get into the MMI conversation by following our Twitter feed!  Just click here!

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