Twitter - What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ

Strong Ties

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:19:21 +0000

People read the Gospels for many reasons, but often because they want things to change. They want the world to be a kinder, more tolerant place. They want to transform themselves. They want justice and love where none exists.

We live in a world of social media. Facebook and Twitter are now ubiquitous, but are they good tools for social change? Malcolm Gladwell, in his New Yorker piece “Small Change,” argues compellingly that they are not. Social media is great for quickly building large networks of people that have only “loose ties” to one another. All the major social progress has been accomplished, in contrast, by well organized hierarchical structures where members have very strong ties to one another personally. Social media, he says:

“is simply a form of organizing which favors weak-tie connections that give us access to information over the strong-tie connections that help us persevere in the face of danger. It shifts our energies from organizations that promote strategic and disciplined activity and toward those which promote resilience and adaptability. It makes it easier for activists to express themselves, and harder for that expression to have any impact.”

Like all of Gladwell’s articles, it is a great read. You’ll also learn what a logistical marvel Martin Luther King, Jr. was.

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Communion…140 Characters at a Time

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:42:34 +0000

Rev. Tim Ross, a Methodist minister in the UK is getting ready to break some new ground in August. He’s attracting followers now for the first communion service delivered via Twitter. In this service, he will send out a series of Tweets which the recipients will read out loud and then type “Amen” as a reply.

Hundreds have already signed up and Ross hopes to have thousands by August.

“[Twitter is] a community that’s as real and tangible as any local neighbourhood and we should be looking to minister to it. The perception of church is often that it is rusting away in antiquated buildings and not in touch with the world around us, but this is a statement that we’re prepared to embrace the technological revolution.” – Rev. Tim Ross

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Getting the Word Out

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:52:52 +0000

A few weeks ago we posted about the Pope urging clergy to use the new social media tools to reach their parishioners. Now, a new tool has launched to help all church leaders digitally reach their flocks. SendingWord “digitally distributes scripture passages and church news. Simply input content to share with your congregation or specific ministry, and we’ll electronically send the messages to members’ chosen communication method: email, text message, phone call, Facebook or Twitter.”

Their press release had this interesting tidbit:

“Studies show that few religious followers turn to the physical Bible–an essential component of Christianity–daily. The recent surge of digital technology development removes barriers, enabling streamlined and convenient access to relevant content: a logical platform for daily religious integration.”

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