Can text messaging during church strengthen a congregation?
Michael Campbell had to pause and choke back tears during his sermon when he started talking about his late grandfather. He then noticed on his cell phone an encouraging text message from someone in the audience: “Praying 4 u.”
Then came another message of support: “Getrdone,” a reference to the trademark phrase of American comedian Larry the Cable Guy.
Forget passing notes. In at least a few Seventh-day Adventist churches, text messaging is the way to share during worship. And while some pastors see texting in the congregation as a distraction, others are using the technology tool to their advantage.
Instead of just texting members who don’t show up for church, a few ministers use it to incorporate audience feedback during their sermon. Others said they’ve texted a deacon on the sly to work out logistics for an upcoming worship segment. In the pews some churchgoers text friends down the aisle or give sermon updates to a relative in another church several states away.
Some Adventists feel it’s disrespectful to text in church, while others think the church needs to adapt to the technology.
Campbell, pastor of the Montrose Adventist Church in Montrose, Colorado, used text messaging during a recent sermon about Jesus visiting the short tax collector Zaccheus’ house. He asked the audience to text him how they would receive Jesus in their own home.
One thirteen-year old said that although his house would be dirty, it would be OK because he would “make Jesus a root beer float and talk.”
“I wanted to do something creative and different,” said Campbell, 30. Seeking feedback is a way to make preaching more relevant, a way of attracting young adults to church, he said.
“My older members ... lean forward because they want to know what some of the young folk in our church have to say,” he said.
Campbell said he doesn’t use the technique often for fear of overkill, often mixing it up from week to week with other modern preaching tools, such as PowerPoint.
Other ministers have incorporated texting into a service. Troy Fitzgerald, 40, youth pastor at Walla Walla University Church in College Place Washington, said he asked the congregation to get their phones out the Sabbath before Mother’s Day and “text your momma.”
But at times, students incorporate texting into the service on their own. Fitzgerald said during chapel he can look down from the balcony and see a half dozen students texting during the service.
One of his parishioners, Kaity Beck, 18, said she doesn’t text in church but most of her friends do. Opinions vary on whether they should.
“I think it’s a problem with a lot of our young people,” said Nadeo Henry, 56, a realtor and part-time office assistant at the Denver First Adventist Church. “I don’t think they’re participating in worship—kind of like if I sat there and read the Wall Street Journal.”
“At least they’re not sleeping,” said Walt Groff, pastor of the Sunset Oaks Adventist Church in Rocklin, California. While preaching he can see his son sometimes texting in the audience. His son’s reply: “it’s about the sermon.”
“At least that’s what he tells me,” Groff said.
“When did we make a rule they shouldn’t text during worship?” said Monte Sahlin, 60, director of research and special projects for the Adventist Church in Ohio. “People for decades have read Junior Guide or bulletin announcements or passed notes to each other during church.”
Some preachers say it’s their responsibility to present a message that’s relevant and interesting, while others have reportedly expressed outright shock at the idea of sending texts in church, especially to the pastor.
“What do they say, ‘Keep it down up there, I’m trying to sleep?’” said one church employee in South Korea.
Still, some have said texting is here to stay.
“We might just as well get used to the idea that members are texting during church,” said Kermit Netteburg, pastor of the Beltsville Adventist Church in Beltsville, Maryland. “They’re texting whether I ask them to or not.”
In July, Netteburg, 63, preached a sermon on marriage tips, some of which came from the audience during the service. He later posted the tips from the congregation on a bulletin board.
“I’m trying to bring participation into preaching,” he said.