Things went smoothly for the first hour of the Twitter experiment at Trinity Church in Manhattan on Good Friday in April.
While hundreds of worshipers watched the traditional dramatization of the Crucifixion from pews in the church, one of New York’s oldest, thousands more around the world followed along on smartphones and computers as a staff member tweeted short bursts of dialogue and setting (“Darkness and earthquake,” “Crucify him!”).
The trouble began in the second hour….
I have to admit, the young twitterers who sent that Good Friday cyberservice into comic chaos WERE pretty funny (e.g. “I’ve got dibs on the robe”). It was meet and right so to do — demonstrating as it did how silly it is to “tweet” WORSHIP.
I am just stunned by the vacuity of these clerics, whether on the right or left, who think that this could in any way be appropriate. Forget about the Christian faith for just a moment. It is simply obvious that there are aspects of human experience that can’t be truly engaged — or even remotely approximated — by an isolated person via little bursts of text on a smartphone. You can’t do that with making love, you can’t do that with hang gliding, you can’t do that with getting drunk with your football buddies, you can’t do that with holding your sobbing daughter when she’s been dumped by her first boyfriend.
Worship (as the Rabbi who was interviewed observed) is untweetable.
CHRISTIAN worship even more so — which involves as an absolute necessity the sacramental act of the forgiveness of sins, which can only happen in person. The gospel (to use Luther’s phrase) has to be given PRO MEA — it has to be spoken directly to a person and the bread and wine given directly to a person.
It sounds like these silly and shallow clerics are confusing outreach and communication and teaching and discussion — all of which are fine things to use the internet for as one tool — with WORSHIP.
It also sounds like they are confused about the true state of Gen X and Gen Y people. The younger generation may be using smartphones a lot. That doesn’t mean they have suddenly become space aliens who’s needs are radically different from those of an older generation. They still get together in groups, they still need real human contact, they still experience sin and guilt and heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.
Using new technology has been ‘in’ since Gutenberg. Radio pastors go back to its earliest days.
Now finding the appropriate use, that takes time.
My parish has a regularly used ‘private’ social network presence using Ning, http://www.ning.com, to connect to each other and parish activities. It is wonderful. The youth group are among the most active users. Plus there is far less of a need for a rapidly outdated parish directory when you use social network technology to its fullest potential.
Peace,
-miserable sinner