The Twurch Blog
News has reached the Twurch of the first ever Twitter Communion to be performed in the UK. Organised by the Revd Tim Ross, (a non-conformist minister in some Wesleyan outfit) this sacramental technological wonder will take place at 10pm on Sunday August the 14th. Wowsers! If only we'd thought of it first.We asked Tim Ross what it was about.
Since any Twitter user anywhere in the world can follow me and take part, it will see Christians from all over the world taking bread and wine together in real time. It may well be the first time this has ever been able to happen.
Cool! The prayer itself can be found here and consists of the following:
Father of us all, your people round the world join together in praising you.
God of wonder, we marvel at your grace, power and love.
From the depths of loving grace you gave us Jesus, your Son, our Saviour.
Dying, he brought us forgiveness. Rising, he brings us new life.
In this simple meal, we remember what Jesus shared with his followers and all that you share with us now in his name.
Fill us with your Spirit and through his power, bless these gifts of bread and wine to us.
The body of Christ was given for you. (Take bread)
The blood of Christ was shed for you. (Take wine)
Thank you that you are our Manna and our Daily Bread. May our food be doing your will and your joy our source of strength.
We spotted an epiclesis, but weren't sure exactly where the Sanctus, words of institution and fracture had been located. However, never one to avoid controversy, we decided to ask some of the Twurch's twittering Bishops what they thought of the idea and the liturgy. We sent out lots of emails and direct messages and we had a massive virtual postbag back...
Twitter communion is a nonsense. Church is a baptised eucharistic community of face-to-face relating. Remote consecration=magic , not Church
Pete Broadbent, Bishop of Willesden, @pete173
Twitter Communion sounds like a serious attempt to offer spiritual comfort but I’d prefer the minister to go bedside and face to face. Remote consecration cannot be taken seriously; the physical presence and laying on of hands is a core aspect of consecration.
Bishop Paul Butler, Bishop of Southwell, @BishopPaulB
Anybody else? No? Well they're all probably off enjoying their summer holidays. But enough of the opinions of the pointy hats. What do you think? Tell us now in our exciting new whizzy flashy poll your thoughts on Communion by extension cable and active modem...
Apoll
Do you like the idea of a Twitter Communion?
Total votes: 36
