Will Twitter bring you closer to God?

[Pat Coyle]

Most churches want them turned off, but one North Carolina church encouraged its members to use their cell phones, BlackBerrys and other devices to help spread the word during Easter services.

Next Level church in Union County was alive with Twitter during the Easter Sunday service, The Charlotte Observer reported Monday.

"I hope many of you are tweeting this morning about your experience with God," Pastor Todd Hahn said before his sermon.

Seems several flocks are twittering these days (including Trinity Church in NYC).

Will tweeting in Church help or hurt the spiritual experience? Share your thoughts here

[Michael R.]

I might just make a blog about it and post it here. Maybe if I have enough libations this weekend I'll give it a whirl:)

[Scott Emmett]

Good grief.

[Nicki Laycoax]

I think it's a great idea to have a couple of designated Tweeters per church. If I'm looking for a church, I can look at their Tweets and see what the message is that they are sending, and also hopefully see what kind of events and special interest groups they have.

[Nicki Laycoax]

Also, if I've missed a Sunday I can get a briefing of what was missed...

[Pat Coyle]

Nicki, your comment make sense to me. I had been firmly in the camp of - Twitter does not belong in service - but as you say, having one or two volunteer tweeters per service might be interesting. Many churches have rooms full of people - separate from the service - praying for the people in service. Similar concept I suppose. On the other hand, if you just want to see or hear the pastors message, most churches tape them...so you wouldn't need Twitter...perhaps the highest purpose of Twitter in the service setting is to somehow help those folks who cannot attend service to feel connected to the congregation in real time

[Nicki Laycoax]

Watching the tapes is a good idea, however, if the member has not attended due to a time crunch, will they make the time to sit down and watch the hour long tape?

[Michael VandenBerg]

The problem with Twitter IN Worship is that worship by design, is suppose to be relational, person to person and person to God and no matter how good the technology, technology places a barrier between us and those around us by taking out of the equation the face to face, person to person. How can you respond with all your senses, if you are focused on your blackberry? It is all a matter of focus.

[Amy Magan]

I think you captured my objection to Twitter in the service exactly.

[Nicki Laycoax]

This is where having dedicated Twitterers would be of benefit. I can have conversations and still listen while I am Tweeting... It's actually quite a bit like being in class and taking notes... Except one would be doing it via Twitter and exposing the church to world.

[Amy Stark]

You are so right, Nicki, there is little difference between a reporter taking notes, and a tweeter taking notes.

I don't know about anybody else, but if I want to remember something, I have to write it down.

More and more, I think there should be a tweet zone in church, close to outlets, where those who enjoy a sense of community in the twittersphere can share their spiritual experiences in real time.

[Ed Buford]

I think you can turn that question around and ask How can you focus on God if you're singing a song? Worship is not the act of singing a song but instead turning your face towards God (I do this best in my kayak). Twitter is simply a means to share your experience, and if you're experiencing God, who is to say that is wrong?

[Larry Jensen]

The Trinity Church article didn't offer much detail, but it sounds like an effective way to use twitter. I recently watched an AdAge video http://adage.com/brightcove/lineup.php?lineup=18982295001 about Carri Bugbee's new company that provides twitter characters for promoting television shows. Sounds like Trinity church is doing something similar. This is what is exciting about this new media! It's a new frontier. Your creativity is your only limit.

As for tweeting during a sermon, well, I'm a little old school on that. I feel it's just rude! Tweet before the service, tweet after the service, but not during. The pastor deserves your full attention. And, you just may miss the most important point while you're focused on tweeting instead of listening. Of course, I think it's rude to have your cell phone on during meetings, too.