Goal to create "close relationship with God"
A group of Adventists in Germany spend their Sabbath mornings on Twitter, but instead of zoning out in church they are posting the sermon 140 characters at a time.
Twitter, a microblogging and social networking service, is used for everything from sharing what someone had for breakfast to breaking the latest news. For Martin Haase, Twitter is a tool for sharing God.
Haase, former communication director for the Euro-Africa region of the Seventh-day Adventist world church, said in today's culture it's normal to be on the Internet all day long, wherever you are.
"With Twitter you can [bring] people up to date with the gospel while [they are] sitting in a coffee shop or waiting at a subway station," Haase said.
Haase has been heavily involved in creating and promoting the Schlosskirche Twitter account. The Twitter sermons are the first of their kind in the country, according to German newspaper Bild.
Ultimately, Haase hopes to have a group of church members and up to four pastors involved in the Tweeting process. A whole sermon consists of between 120 to 140 tweets.
Right now, 66 people are following Schlosskirche (Castle Church) on Twitter. Haase said most of the followers are not members of the Adventist church.
"Twitter will train us church members to use and understand the digital communication of postmodern society," Haase said. "You have to translate our traditional church language into 140 [character] phrases."
The Bergisch Gladbach Adventist Church and staonline, a German Adventist media outreach organization, are also assisting the Twitter sermons.
To follow the Castle Church on Twitter, search for Schlosskirche. Visit schlosskirche.org for more information.
