Are some churches going overboard in their attempts to package and market religion?
Soon you will be able to Twitter your prayers to God, which may not be a bad thing as long as he follows you back.
First Dell uses Twitter to make over $3 mill, A catering truck uses it to flood in customers, and now churches are using Twitter to preach.
See below a recent article that I cam across about churches using twitter in their services. Too much, or really savvy.
By JEFF STRICKLER, Star Tribune
Pier Paolo Cito, Associated PressAt the Eagle Brook Church
Marlin Levison, Star Tribune
Eyes roll when Rabbi Hayim Herring tells his fellow clergy that they should spend an hour a day on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
Listeners at his seminars exchange smirks when he says blogging should be considered mandatory. They look aghast when he recommends posting short video clips from their sermons on YouTube.
It’s a lot better than the reaction he used to get.
“They used to look at me as if I’d just said a four-letter word,” said Herring, the former senior rabbi at Beth El Synagogue in St. Louis Park and now the executive director of STAR (Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal). But in its seven years, the organization has seen more converts to what many call one of the dirtiest words in religion: marketing.
Across the country, religious congregations have turned more to marketing to keep the members they have and attract others to their emptying pews. The trend is accelerating as the Internet and its explosion of social networking sites add entirely new ways to connect on spiritual issues.
But the growing emphasis on new salesmanship tools alarms others who say the onslaught undermines the idea that spirituality should be a respite from the constant clamor of commercialism.
“It’s considered heresy in some circles,” agreed Greg Smith, a research fellow for the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. “They consider consumerism shallow.”
But, Smith said, “Whether they like it or not, religions are being forced to compete for members.”
Smart-phone spirituality
That debate has intensified with this spring’s follow-up study of a 2008 survey that discovered that 44 percent of adult Americans have a different religious affiliation than the one they grew up in. Surprised by so much movement, researchers went back and asked the respondents why they changed.
Along with the expected answers marriage to a person of a different faith, the arrival of a new minister, disagreement with church rules came the discovery that people have started to shop for churches the same way they shop for cars. They test-drive sermons and check out the “accessories,” which can include everything from the music to children’s programs to the co-ed softball team.
“We live in a competitive religious marketplace,” said Pew researcher John Smith. “You have to be competitive if you are going to attract and keep members.”
More than just bragging rights are at stake. Maintaining membership is critical for church finances, especially at a time of economic distress when contributions are dropping and endowment funds have taken a beating in the stock market. If belt-tightening members drop less money in the collection plate, the congregation needs to pack more people into the pews to make up the difference.
Like a cutting-edge political campaign, the use of electronic marketing is spreading across all religions. In a recent speech, Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism, urged his religious organizations to use “smart-phones with BlackBerry, iPhone and Symbian.” While they were at it, he suggested, they should check out Flickr, Habbo, hi5, Skyrock, Tagged, Bebo, Netlog, MyHeritage, Odnoklassniki, Sonico and VKontakte.
“Use new technologies to create a dialogue,” he said.
The younger generation’s reliance on these electronic social networks leaves religious leaders no choice, Herring said. “If you’re not out there, there’s no chance of your message being heard,” he said.
For Aricka Johnson, a member of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Mound, the Internet is a way to stay connected with her faith emotionally when she can’t do so physically.
“I felt very alone after moving a lot throughout my life and hopping to church after church,” she said. “When I go onto websites like Tangle.com, Shoutlife.com and Mychurch.com I feel more connected with others. Before, I almost felt awkward in speaking about my beliefs in God, but after talking more and more about it with other Christians on these websites I feel way more comfortable in sharing my beliefs in depth with others. These websites have changed my life for the better and have brought me closer to God.”
A slippery slope?
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