For a while, I have been musing on the nature of the daily
Evensong in which I sing being an enforced (but not in any bad sense) sacred space
in my life. Apart from being a part of a centuries’ old tradition and therefore being made to feel somewhat insignificant in the grand scheme of things, part of this is
inevitably down to the fact that technology – and its concomitant connectivity
– are banished to pockets for the duration of the service.
This led me to think about the extent to which our
connectedness through social media is preventing us from having that quiet
personal time and space for religion, reflection or relaxation, as even when
simply watching television or listening to the radio, we are being told to
email or tweet with comments and feedback meaning that, without a great deal of
self-discipline, our escape is never possible
If our connectedness is inescapable – my thinking went – I
wondered how such a space could be created in our online connected world. The
inevitable answer is ironic and I duly contacted a priest fried of mine and
asked if he would like to lead an online Evensong with me tweeting as I do
regularly on behalf of Lichfield Cathedral Choir. His enthusiasm for the idea
led me to think that it was not quite as foolish as it felt.
Although this creates a lot of work for those taking part, one
of the beauties of Evensong is knowing that it is happening in cathedrals up
and down the country on a daily basis and while there are some people who
attend regularly, there are plenty of others who just drop in for a single
service or are there for just some of a single service. Another beauty of
Evensong, from the congregation’s point of view, is that the majority of it is
said (or sung) on their behalf by the priest and the choir, so they are able to
partake as passively as they wish.
My idea of an online service is an attempt to create exactly
the same thing. It will happen tomorrow – 30th December – at 5.30pm
GMT whether or not people are reading the tweets. People can choose to follow
us for as much or as little as they like. The text will all be delivered in
tweet-size chunks: there will be the full psalms and readings for the day, along
with prayers and an anthem text to read.
To the best of my knowledge, there has not been a tweeted
act of worship before. There are online churches and religious communities but,
as far as I can tell, they do not – or have not – offered something like this
before.
It is an experiment. It will happen. I am sure there will be
some people who see it as a waste of time and a foolish endeavour; however, I do
hope that people will find the time to take out of their day to drop in on the
event, and I do hope our efforts will be appreciated by someone somewhere in the world.
If details change, I will update this post and I welcome any comments, suggestions and feedback, but I look
forward to my next post being a reflection of how the first tweeted service went.
UPDATE 16:27: Having enlisted a Dean and a Bishop to help us, please also follow @CatherineOgle, and @b2dac
UPDATE 31/12: After the event I compiled all the feedback I received and it can be read, with comments, at http://richardshakeshaft.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/tweeted-bcp-evening-prayer.html
UPDATE 16:27: Having enlisted a Dean and a Bishop to help us, please also follow @CatherineOgle, and @b2dac
UPDATE 31/12: After the event I compiled all the feedback I received and it can be read, with comments, at http://richardshakeshaft.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/tweeted-bcp-evening-prayer.html
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