Tag: txt messaging

140 characters of prayer

I feel like I’ve been sending a lot of prayer–related txt messages and tweets lately. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. I actually have only heard positive things from folks getting them (however please let me know if you’d rather not receive them).

I’ve found that txt messages, Twitter and e-mail have turned the traditional “prayer chain” into a rapid fire prayer blast. Within seconds/minutes folks all around the world can be updated with the latest prayer needs.

I’ve used txt messaging and e-mail for some time now. And with my new phone I love the ability to assign folks to message groups so I’m not selecting multiple people each and every time I send a message out.

But I have to wonder if there’s still yet a better way to send out rapid-fire prayer needs/requests. If more folks signed up to Twitter it could really become an informational network where folks could chose to receive updates via the web or txt messages. Perhaps an alternative Twitter feed could be setup just for prayer requests/alerts.

I wonder what it would take to build a system for churches or ministries where prayer alerts could be entered into a system and a message would be sent to Twitter, Plurk (get the most responses from Plurk), Jaiku, etc feeds (140 characters max of course), sent to those requesting cell phone updates, and then a longer more detailed message could also go directly to an RSS feed that could be subscribed to via traditional RSS readers and or e-mail.

Ultimately folks could subsubscribe, unsubscribe and also choose how to receive the prayer alerts.

Is this asking too much? Am I over thinking this? Is it already there? I bet with a little planning a system could be built using WordPress and a couple different plugins.

Hmmm…. could lead to some great possibilities.

What do you prefer? How is your church spreading news/announcements/prayer requests? Still using traditional mediums like bulletins, announcements and prayer chains? Are you on the “cutting edge” and using txt messages, or RSS?

Share you thoughts and ideas!

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Texting in church

Mars Hill Church in Seattle has begun welcoming Txt messaging during their Sunday morning services as part of a Q&A with pastor Mark Driscoll. This is also something they’ve been doing at several conferences the church has been a part of or hosted.

We’ve discussed txt messaging at encounter but haven’t quite put into effect yet. I love the idea of interaction between the congregation/lay people and the pastor during the service and the interaction between each person in the congregation.

We had a unique experience yesterday at encounter (no video/audio/picture archives were made) where we sat up 3 unique rooms with chairs all facing inward so we were “forced” to look at one another rather than simply stare at a stage or screen where someone talks and sings “to us.”

I loved it. Felt very community like. Fit right in with the taking of the Eucharist or communion (coming together in union). We moved from room to room as Brian spoke about the blood and body of Christ and in the final room we sat gathered around a cross where Brian spoke of Christ freeing us from our bondage. He offered an opportunity for folks to share what this freedom in Christ meant to them.

Usually when we have times for response we get limited numbers of response but something about yesterday really encouraged the interaction. We had people from all sides of the room speaking out and sharing their thoughts. Several even played off one another.

I think this type of interaction is vital to our churches. I hope we can see more of it.

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The txting church

Over the last year or so text messaging has become more prevalent than ever. Luckily I have an unlimited txting plan for my cell phone, because it seems I rarely use any minutes on my monthly plan (thanks to free calls to other AT&T users) but I do lots of txt messaging.
I’ve even become known as the go-to-guy when a prayer requests needs to be shared. I take advantage of text messages first and then normally send a follow-up email with more information.
Brian sent me a link to a story from MondayMorningInsight.com that I apparently overlooked, “How Will The Church Use Text Messaging?”
We’ve been discussing over e-mail the last couple weeks some ways that our church could possibly use text messaging to more effectively communicate with our partners. We’ve had several ideas, including feedback during the services. But I think some of that may take more hardware and software than we’re ready to pay for. But their may be other areas, services we can offer that we haven’t seen yet or tackled.
It could be something as “simple” as using twitter to track what Brian or other leadership folks do during the day, or it could be as complex as responding to the message and then showing the responses on the screen during our Sunday morning Service – kind of like VH1’s Pop-Up Video.
Any ideas? Do you see your church utilizing txt messages? If so, how?