Ontario church set to transmit 'Theology of Twitter'

Starting today and for the next two weekends, Redeemer Lutheran Church will offer a sermon series titled, "The Theology of Twitter."

For those who have signed up to Redeemers' Twitter account, they will receive live tweets about Pastor Ed Blonski's sermon.

"We're actually telling them to turn on their phones," Blonski said. "Twitter embraces what Christ is all about. It's about wanting to know other people and wanting to develop relationships."

Twitter is a social networking Web site that allows a person to write a message of up to 140 characters and be

Photo illustration by John Valenzuela

But don't expect Blonski to be on his computer during the sermon, he will have someone in the pews with a laptop sending out tweets of his sermon.

The theme of his sermon series is based off the book "So Beautiful," by Leonard Sweet. Blonski calls Sweet of his virtual friends.

Blonski and Sweet have met once, but have since kept in contact through e-mail and Twitter.

In Sweet's book, the main points - which are mission, relationships and human interaction - will be the theme for each week, Blonksi said.

Redeemer member Shelly Reinschmidt is already seeing the benefits of her church having a Twitter account.

When Reinschmidt got on her computer on Thursday morning, she said she noticed there were new tweets from the youth Bible study the night before.

"This really allows anyone to access it anywhere they are," Reinschmidt said. "They can get on in any place in the world and see what's going on at their home church."

In the past year, more pastors are using social-network sites such as Twitter and Facebook as a communication tool, said Mark MacDonald, a church consultant and president of North Carolina-based PinPoint Creative Group.

Every church is focused on involving and engaging people, and Twitter is the next generation of being in contact with people, said MacDonald, who helps churches and ministries through print and Web-based mediums.

While some people are concerned about live-time twittering being a distraction, it can actually be the opposite, he said.

"Everybody learns differently," MacDonald said. "Some learn by hearing and others learn by writing."

Aside from learning, he said they are helping the church in another way.

"If someone re-tweets the sermon points, or passes it out the number of people who can get the point is a lot more than those who were inside your church walls," he said.

Twitter can also help pastors stay in tune with current issues and even concerns within their congregation, MacDonald said.

Late this past week, there were about a dozen followers on Redeemers' Twitter site, but Blonski said he is not focused on the number, but sharing in the gospel.

Twitter, Blonski said, is "about being in relationships with each other and the world," but in no way a replacement for going to church.

"The Bible tells us all things are made from God and used by God. So why not use the technology of today?"

But using modern technology is nothing new for Christians, said Pastor Jack Hibbs, at Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills.

From Johann Gutenberg using the printing press to publish the Bible to Joel Osteen using television to broadcast his sermons, Christians have always taken full advantage of modern technology, Hibbs said.

For the past three years, Hibbs has been using V-Blog where he takes questions and answers them on a video blog. He also podcasts his sermons and broadcasts them on internet television.

Despite the modern technology in his church, Hibbs said he will probably never sign up for Twitter, because he doesn't have the time.

The social network, however, opens the door to interacting with God, which is why Hibbs said he wouldn't mind if anyone ever twittered his sermon.

"Technology has now taken the walls of the church and has made them global," Hibbs said.