Twitter made me a better preacher
Sunday for a month. • Post pictures aft er events for people to share with friends. • During the sermon, give worship- ers a phrase they can send out: “I’m at St. John—Prairie Hill, and I want you to know that God loves you.” • In confi rmation class(es), encour- age younger members already on social media to use it to talk about their faith. • Pastors and staff , model digital evangelism in your ministry.
For four years I’ve used the 140-character posts on Twitter in a variety of ways: to learn about breaking news, to talk about ministry, to connect with new and old friends. I could say many things about it, but mostly I want to say: Twitter has made me a better preacher.
The best exam I took in college required me in one page (no more) to “Describe the development of Christian theology from the resurrection to the Reformation.” With that, I began to grasp the importance of expressing important ideas with suc- cinctness and clarity. Granted, I have yet to preach a 140-character sermon. But I do preach with lots of 140-character chunks—especially the main idea. Listeners want something solid, something easy to take with them. And that’s where the pithy summary (a tweet) of your sermon comes in handy. Pay attention to Twitter, and you’ll discover which thoughts and ideas are retweeted, which travel farther and faster. Isn’t this what a preacher wants on Sunday morning? For parishioners to take the sermon home with them, remember it throughout the week (and beyond), and
Author bio: Hansen is pastor of St. John Lutheran Church Prairie Hill in Brenham, Texas, and is part of Church Social Media, a community discovering how to best use the tools of digital media for the good of the gospel. He has shared these thoughts and oth- ers at
http://churchsocmed.blogspot.com.
share it with friends and co-workers? David Hansen
Gathering the Lutheran Community A pastor’s confession: I use my phone during worship
Yes, that was me with my phone out during worship, tapping away. I may have even taken a photo or two (no fl ash—even I have limits). To be clear, I’m not confessing this to seek forgiveness. I’m acknowledging and declaring I did this and I’m not sorry. Sitting quietly and listening doesn’t work for me. In college and grad school I had to be engaged in the lecture (taking extensive notes or starting a lively discussion) for anything to stay with me. The same is true in worship. If
I just sit, attentively worshiping, I’ll certainly get something out of it. Worship has every chance of being uplifting, grace-fi lled and moving. But as soon as I leave the worship space, learning or insight evaporates. If I engage—take notes on my
bulletin, tweet what moved me in the sermon, or ask a question on Face- book provoked by the sermon—then more stays with me. I’ll carry it with
me into my life. Isn’t that the point? In our tradition we occasionally require just such behavior from worshipers. How many pastors have required confi rmation students to take sermon or worship notes? Isn’t that the same sort of engagement that happens when someone uses social media during worship? Are there ways to do this that can be too distracting to other worship- ers? Are there people just playing games on their phones? Absolutely. Just like a person writing on their bulletin may really be making a gro- cery list. Another bowing their head in prayer may actually be napping. The fact is, no matter what we do some folks pay attention in worship and some don’t. And before you jump to conclusions, remember that some of us are able to listen better precisely because we’re using our phones.
David Hansen
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