By Rebecca Bowman Woods, DisciplesWorld news editor
INDIANAPOLIS (8/1/09) — You won’t find the names “@fcclynchburg,” “@Janetta,” or “@pastordannyb” on any Assembly-goer’s name tag. But those names and several others are well-known to Disciples using Twitter, the popular microblogging website.
Perhaps as many as 50 or 60 Disciples were conversing — or “tweeting” — during much of the 2009 General Assembly. Early in the morning and late at night, from Blackberries and iPhones and laptops, Disciples were using Twitter to carry on conversations and engage in debates, share information, promote Assembly-related events, ask questions, and offer up random thoughts.
Tweeting during the business sessions? Yep. Discussions about General Assembly resolutions continued on Twitter long after floor debate time had ended — and sometimes well into the evening. And rather than whisper comments and affirmations to friends and neighbors during worship, or speak them out loud, tweeting Disciples let their thumbs do the talking, in segments of 140 characters or fewer.
During debate on Resolution 0922 concerning changes to the denomination’s Order of Ministry document, @gravestim posted a theological question: “Who calls folks to ministry? God or the church?” Another Twitter user, @fcclynchburg, posted the pros and cons of the resolution in two separate tweets, while @Soccerking761 simply tweeted “vote no!”
Several leaders of general and regional ministries are regular Twitter users, including Cyrus N. “Russ” White, president of the Christian Board of Publication, and Sharon E. Watkins, Disciples' general minister and president. And Watkins’ alter ego, an anonymous user who goes by the name of @fakesharon, is well-known by Disciples on Twitter for his or her satirical tweets.
Twitter doesn’t usually release information on its number of users, but an unofficial estimate by eMarketer in 2008 put the figure at 6 million — roughly 3.8 percent of Internet users. The number is expected to reach 18.1 million in 2010. It’s a social and cultural zeitgeist, the punchline of jokes by late-night comedians, and, some say, a trend the church can’t afford to ignore.
Serene Jones, president of Union Theological Seminary in New York City, believes that Twitter and social networking in general are part of a larger, technology-driven shift that is no less important than the invention that fueled the Protestant Reformation of the fifteenth century — the printing press. Speaking to a small group of DisciplesWorld staff, board members, and contributors on Friday, Jones said that social media and technology are literally changing the way we think.
Not surprisingly, Evangelicals have been among the first to embrace Twitter and include it in worship. Some churches project tweets up on a screen during the sermon. But Disciples may not be far behind the curve — or behind at all.
Will Boyd, a member of University Christian Church in Seattle and husband of pastor Janetta Cravens Boyd, has a degree in social media and sustainable marketing. He recently launched 3 Story Church, a consulting business that helps churches think through and implement social media strategies.
Boyd’s company, like many others, can help a church set up its Facebook page or update its website. But before leaping into social media, churches need to ask themselves what they hope to accomplish and how it fits in with the overall mission. Boyd aims to help with that.
During the Church 2.0 General Assembly resource group on Saturday, Boyd cautioned attendees about seeing social media as the “magic bullet” for drawing in new visitors and members. Instead, he advised congregations to be authentic, especially when using the web and social media as an outreach tool.
Instead of using tools like Facebook and Twitter as one-way promotional channels, Boyd said, congregations will be more successful if they employ these platforms to connect and build relationships. Judging by the General Assembly-related tweets, that’s exactly what some Disciples on Twitter are doing.
Before Sunday’s closing concert and communion service, @fcclynchburg wrote, “What an odd feeling, the GA Twitter community dispersing in a few hours. Some are gone already. Sniff. Feels like the end of camp.”