Pastors use Twitter for church

LUBBOCK On Monday, May 18, Calvary Chapel Lubbock pastor Ben Martinez was up early.

By 6:52 a.m., he had finished his quiet time, listened to a Christian podcast and was on his way to the gym. From about noon to 1 p.m., he ate lunch at Mi Tierra with someone named Ricky and took a picture of Ricky with his cell phone. From 3:11 p.m. to 3:19 p.m. he listened to a version of “I Surrender All” on the Internet. At 5 p.m., he headed back to the gym, planning to go to Starbucks afterward. He finished his workout by 7:27 p.m.

It was a busy day. And if you were one of the currently 98 people who follow him on Twitter, you’d know all about it.

Twitter is the newest kid on the social networking block. It’s the Internet microblogging service that allows users to “tweet” their opinions, whereabouts, and plans in abbreviated real-time.

Friends are made; lives are followed.

Its appeal is rooted in its haiku-esque functionality, which restricts individual posts to 140 characters.

Church leaders across the country have quickly caught on and more and more are harnessing Twitter’s power, as well as that of other sites like Facebook, for the Kingdom of God.

Lubbock pastors are no exception. Some use for it fellowship, some for outreach.

Martinez is one of several local pastors who utilizes the service to foster a sense of community within his congregation and keep church members instantly in the loop, not only regarding church happenings, but their personal lives as well.

“It’s a good way to keep our congregation updated on prayer requests or events in the church,” he said. “Also people are really just interested in people’s lives. Like, ‘oh, what’s the pastor doing? What’s he studying?’ ”
But most importantly, said Martinez, who regularly cites Bible verses in his tweets, “it’s a means to preach the Gospel. A means to encourage and exhort people.”

ON THE NET

>> Twitter: http://twitter.com
>> How to use Twitter: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYHUOESHpVk