The risk of being authentic on Twitter.

How many times a day do I hear this word or its new verbiage..."Twitter" "I tweeted" "saw your tweet last night"?

When my church decided they MUST Twitter (see Anthony Coppedge's e-book Reasons Why Your Church Must Twitter), I had no idea what they were talking about. I'm no slacker when it comes to new age stuff. I'm on Facebook, I'm obviously a blogger, and somehow I've become a kind of go to person when it comes to media and the church. But Twitter? Rather than admit my ignorance I shut up lest anyone know my secret, I had no clue what they were talking about.

I read the book, I signed up for my own Twitter account. Coincidentally it was time to change cell phone service providers and I was able to work in an unlimited texting plan meaning I had no more excuses not to "tweet" with my church.

This new communication is supposed to keep our large church better connected in the time between Sundays. And our tweeting is focused. We tweet about the ways we serve in Christian faith throughout the week. This can be connectional, just staying up to date with what's going on with our church community. But it can also be inspirational. Seeing that someone else found ways to actively follow Christ can motivate me to do the same. Its purpose was also to demonstrate just how integrated our faith should be with Every action, Every sacrifice, Every moment of our lives. (wink, wink to Every one of you WSC folk ;)

So does it?

Weeelll...it depends on who you ask. While Twitter has taken off in some circles, it's still limited by technological availability and the lifestyles of the congregation. In a congregation that already worships mostly in contemporary style and mostly made up of already high tech connected folk, I think the church leaders expected it to be a bit more effective than it has been. For those people already using other 2.0 technologies, this was right up their alley. That's where most of the activity has come from.

But those people who may have cell phones and may even be avid texters, Twitter may not work for them. In fact over time the frequency of tweets has diminished. Was it a novelty? Has Twitter served its purpose as a short term promotional technique in our church? How can it be revived, emphasized, relevant again?

Another significant debate especially for those concerned with the theological use of media is how can Twitter be used as an authentic voice? It's perfectly fine to send out positive or neutral statements via Twitter. But in asking churches to use it as a tool to enhance and communicate faith, are we asking people to only talk about the happy part of faith? Are we intentionally creating the expectation that only the good times and the perfect Christian image of faith is acceptable?

Faith is not simple. Real faith is something that Christians seek to live into in EVERY circumstance, even when circumstances are hard. During this time of economic instability, lost jobs, wages, and investments the fear of not knowing what is coming next is overwhelming. I'm not sure that it's socially acceptable to post something like, "lost my job today, why did God do this to me?" or "just watched my coworkers leave the building for the last time, how can I be so lucky and they're not?" Will the church members' responses try to smooth over the rawness of the moment? Or is the church ready to lament with these constant, instantaneous updates on people's lives?