The bulletin at the church where I’m a member now specifically forbids tweeting or texting during the sermon. I love my pastor, but I have to say this particular notice annoys me to no end. Whether or not this behavior is acceptable (we’ll get to that in a second), I find that notice a little condescending and off-putting. Of course, I thought the same thing about the original version of the notice, which told people when they were and weren’t permitted to converse at the beginning of the service.

I believe that a worship service should be a time of focusing on God and should encourage a reverent attitude. But I think that attitude should originate naturally from the service itself rather than from schoolmarm-like pronouncements in the bulletin. What a terrible message that sends to newcomers or seekers who might be visiting!

Scott Williams not only believes Twitter should be allowed in church, he believes it should be encouraged, as a way of people sharing with others (and reminding themselves of) points that they will take away from the service. (Hat tip to Gavin Richardson — via his Twitter account, naturally.) I’m not sure I’m personally ready for that — I’ve never tweeted during a church service. But I can imagine looking something up online that the preacher mentions during the sermon.

Reverend Mommy, a minister in North Carolina Georgia, just added this to the Twitter conversation about the issue:

@LakeNeuron @gavoweb Can’t twitter during sermon at my churches; we don’t have any cell phone coverage. HA! Take THAT!

Whatever you do with your phone in church, it needs to be discreet and respectful of others sitting nearby.

UPDATE: I had originally linked to the wrong Twitter account, but it’s fixed now.