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Twittering for Jesus

Orginally published on Monday, April 28, 2008 at 7:22 AM
by Todd Rhoades

Perry Noble "Twitters." So does Tony Morgan. What does this mean? Well, it simply means that these guys are sharing their lives throughout the day through Twitter.com, telling the whole world what they're up to during the day. (For example, recently Perry was working on the plans for Mother's Day at Newspring Church. Tony was headed off to a leadership strategy meeting to discuss NewSpring's future. Have you ever heard of Twitter? If not, maybe it's time to spread your wings and discover a new, free tool that you can use for ministry. Twitter is a social networking tool that many pastors and church leaders are starting to use to communicate on the Internet with their friends, colleagues, and church members.

Why should you care? Well, quite possibly you don’t. But I wanted to introduce you to a new possibility for your ministry. If you’re looking for a way to connect with your church often throughout the week—to give them an inside look at your ministry life and to share in a brand new way the vision and mission of your church, Twitter may be just the tool for you.


I Twitter. Last week, while I was in Orlando at the Exponential Conference, I was giving instant Twittering nuggets from the conference. In fact, if you had been reading my Twitter feed, you would have gotten notice of our live interviews with Andy Stanley, Rick Warren, Dave Ferguson and many others. We were able to stream these interviews live, but only had a few minutes notice, so we sent out ‘twitters’ to let everyone know what was happening. Scott Hodge and Chris Elrod are pastors that I was hanging out with at the conference… they also used Twitter to their tell their friends about what all was happening..


Could Twitter be a cool tool for your ministry? Check out a little more about the possibilities here. And give it a try!


I use the small download Twhirl to read all the updates from the people I’m following. Here are some of the people that I think you might like to add to your Twitter list:


Me (of course!)

Perry Noble

Tony Morgan

Kem Meyer

Anne Jackson

Geoff Surratt

TallSkinnyKiwi

Los

DJ Chuang

ScottHodge

ChrisElrod

Bobby Gruenwald

Terry Storch


Feel free to add your name to the list in our comments section!  And, please DO share how YOU are using Twitter!


Todd A. Rhoades


This post has been viewed 1094 times so far.


  There are 35 Comments:

  • Posted by Camey
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 7:33 AM

    Thanks for posting this Todd. I’ve been considering it but still not sure.. Although now that I’m in a little trouble - it might be the right time to get started. smile

  • Posted by iggy
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 8:05 AM

    http://twitter.com/iggyinMontana

    Man, I was bummed not to make the list…

    LOL!

    iggy

  • Posted by Joshua Cody
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 8:21 AM

    twitter.com/jpcody

  • Posted by Joshua Cody
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 8:23 AM

    Sorry for the double post, I posted before I was ready last time. Take the jump to Twitter, it’s all the connectedness of social networking with none of the bloat of the other (Facebook, MySpace, etc) sites.

  • Posted by Steve Murphy
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 8:32 AM

    I have found that twitter is an amazing tool for networking and connecting with some amazing people.  Some might say I’m addicted… I can quit anytime I want, but I’m no quitter!

    http://www.twitter.com/Godstories

  • Posted by Terrace Crawford
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 8:34 AM

    No doubt, a great way to network.

    follow me:
    http://www.twitter.com/terracecrawford

  • Posted by Adam
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 8:47 AM

    twitter.com/ypadam

    I have used twitter to keep up with friends in ministry and to exchange ideas with each other.  I am hoping to use it with our student ministry to keep up with students throughout the week.

  • Posted by Clayton Bell
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 10:06 AM

    http://www.Twitter.com/ClaytonBell.

    I think Twitter has TREMENDOUS untapped potential for the local church, aside from all that it’s provided to the church at large with conference updates.

    A church-wide devotional, twittered out daily. Urgent prayer requests? Twitter sends them to the cell of everyone in the church. Last-minute schedule change? Everyone knows via text.

    Oh, and it includes every pastor’s favorite word: FREE.

  • Posted by Chris Reeder
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 10:16 AM

    twhirl is a great tool…

    http://twitter.com/chrisreeder

  • Posted by
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 10:23 AM

    “Could Twitter be a cool tool for your ministry?”

    I’ve heard the story in the news recently of a Twitter page that helped saved a man’s life from being in prison in Egypt.  And, I was first exposed to Twitter while Todd was on assignment, by checking out his updates.  Although I appreciate Todd’s diligence in making those updates while at the conferences, in looking at this tool, though, it seems like Twitter is just increasing the noise to signal ratio and reducing the amount of thought that needs to go into things.

    We’ve gone from having finely-researched books, down to multi-page letter mailers, down to blog postings, now down to 160 character text messages for communicating great thoughts about our faith.  Don’t get me wrong, sometimes fewer words are better, and some excellent teaching, preaching, and edifying can be done in just a few words, and we still have those other tools at our disposal, but at what point does everything become a sound-bite or a quick commercial in length?

    Not trying to be negative here; just trying to keep perspective on the utility of this tool with regards to the faith.

    --
    CS

  • Posted by jim
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 10:37 AM

    I twitter at @jbonewald.  I’m a pastor. 

    I twittered my sermon title yesterday morning and one of our college kids was so excited to know the sermon title before she and her parents got to church....

  • Posted by Kim
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 10:42 AM

    tweet tweet!

    http://twitter.com/kaliczi

  • Posted by Paul Kuzma
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 11:11 AM

    Lovin it!

    Join the journey with me at http://www.twitter.com/Paul_Kuzma

  • Posted by Jeff Gibson
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 11:16 AM

    I caught several of the live feeds last week because of the twitter updates.  I’ve been able to try out things that other people are using because they might not seem significant enough to blog about, but they are twitter-worthy.

    Try it!!!

    @jeffreygibson

  • Posted by Matt
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 11:25 AM

    I think everyone who follows you on twitter should be known as “tweeps.” Ya know, like,

    Where mah tweeps at?

  • Posted by Camey
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 11:30 AM

    Is it just me or are most twitters guys?

  • Posted by Dustin DeKoekkoek
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 11:35 AM

    http://twitter.com/dustindk

    I do social media stuff for Mars Hill Church in Seattle

  • Posted by Kirk Longhofer
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 11:46 AM

    Hey Todd!  I’ll be a voice of dissent… sort of!

    I hate Twitter!  I hate, hate, hate, hate it!

    I hate it when it’s being used incorrectly.  Microblogging is NOT a substitute for content on your regular blog!

    I have cancelled my RSS feeds to four blogs recently because they had degenerated from having great content, to drivel!  One of them is on your list, above!  Used to be great.  Now garbage!

    I don’t care that you just finished up at the gym, and are on your way to Starbucks.  I don’t care that you had problems finding parking, unless I’m your Mom and yours is a family blog!

    Blogs need careful purpose and direction.  That doesn’t mean you can’t have an occassional off the wall post.  Blog content needs focus so it adds value for the reader! 

    But Tweets are blog pollution!  They add a ton of noise to the conversation you are trying to facilitate by having a blog in the first place.

    The only exception I can think of off the top of my head would be when you’re using Tweets to cover a speaker at a conference.

    Put them in your sidebar, or point them toward your facebook page.  Your readers will probably thank you!

  • Posted by Jeff Gibson
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 11:56 AM

    Most tweets are guys.  You’re just reporting the facts, and there’s no discussion required.  It’s the perfect guy tool!

  • Posted by Camey
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 12:28 PM

    Thanks Jeff. That may have just challenged me. lol

  • Posted by jay hardwick
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 12:40 PM

    todd -

    great to meet you last week at exponential.

    the jury is still out for me on twitter...but i’m giving it a shot for a month or so.

    http://twitter.com/jayhardwick

  • Posted by
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 4:13 PM

    Brand new to the twitter thing.  I am using it as one of my communication strategies in starting a new church in Myrtle Beach, SC.

    http://twitter.com/treykelly

  • Posted by Ben Durbin
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 4:43 PM

    http://www.twitter.com/bendurbin ... I try to keep it up for my church community.. i like how it posts to my blog and facebook as well.. Personally - i enjoy following others more than posting myself.

  • Posted by Rich Kirkpatrick
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 5:43 PM

    I am following that whole list...already!

    This tool has been a great way to keep in touch with friends both near and far!

    ADD ME TOO....

    @rkweblog

  • Posted by Peter Hamm
    Monday, April 28, 2008 at 7:42 PM

    Is that anything like Thumper being “twitterpated” in the movie “Bambi”?

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