About 2 months ago my friend Blair said to me, “Are you on Twitter? You need to be on Twitter.” I had a long-dormant Twitter account, so I dusted it off, remembered the password, and started following folks I knew. Then I started following people THOSE people followed. (Are you following so far?)
Then Blair told Paul and I about Carlos Whittaker, who does all sorts of imaginative, creative stuff at Buckhead Church in Atlanta. So I found him and followed him. I started seeing just how big this whole Twitter thing really is.
On Christmas Eve day, I was hanging out on Twitter, seeing what everyone was doing in their last minute rush to prepare for the holiday. That’s when I saw a “tweet” from @loswhit. “You Have To See This!!! LifeChurch.tv Internet Campus. Come join me in this LIVE event. Amazing http://live.lifechurch.tv.”
Having never been one to ignore something that sounds that interesting, I clicked on the link. What I saw next was stunning. The worship, the message, live chat with the rest of the congregation, the opportunity for live prayer via chat with a real person. All of it.
I came back again at the next “live experience” at LifeChurch.tv. And again. And again. I started checking in on Saturday nights, Sunday afternoons, and Tuesday nights. And I found out something extraordinary. Community exists online. Of course, I already knew this. I’ve been an active member of virtual worlds before, and I even met my husband in a chat room.
The extraordinary thing was how quickly I felt like a real part of what was going on. I quickly became a “regular” and now have friends from this online church who live all over the country. Paul and I are in a small group that meets exclusively online. I”m also part of a similar women’s group.
Last night was the first time I volunteered to help be part of the “team” for the experience. I didn’t really do anything very different from what I had already been doing. I was just being friendly and supportive to those coming to encounter God through this experience. But I felt like I had come full-circle. I was now helping people engage in the same thing that had stirred me so powerfully just 6 weeks earlier. I was helping people find God and find life.
I feel like more changes are on the horizon. This church has become a second church home for us. We are in prayer about how we can become more involved. We are experiencing authentic community and LIFE – online!
If it hadn’t been for Twitter I’d have no idea what I’d have missed.
5 Comments
February 4, 2009 at 6:30 pm
WOW! Thanks for sharing, that’s so cool – that you found lc.tv through a tweet! You just never know how God uses the things you do ;p
Twitter is definitely a great tool!
February 4, 2009 at 6:51 pm
You’re welcome.
February 4, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Very cool – you’re right, community does exist online – it makes many churches aware of The Church and it keeps us from tunel-vision. Keep tweeting!
February 9, 2009 at 2:27 pm
you forget your “german friend”
greetings!
- good report! thx.
February 15, 2009 at 10:38 am
Twitter has been amazing. But it’s become harder to NOT communicate. My original intention was to build a network to find a new career. What really happened was that doors were opened with other pastors and people I would of not met. Truly amazing.