Church launches Tweeting exercise

BISHOPS, CLERGY, chaplains, youth workers and churchgoers from around the country will be given a week each to tweet about their life in the Church of England in a new initiative by the Communications Office.

The project @OurCofE was launched on 3 March and has been inspired by similar Twitter accounts such as @sweden set up by the Swedish Tourist Board, which invited people to take turns tweeting their life in Sweden for a week and give their own unique view of the country.

In a press release, the Communications Office unveiled the names of some of the 52 weekly tweeters. Critics said the initiative was unlikely to give space for genuine debate in the church and appeared to be a PR exercise rather than an attempt to foster knowledge of what is happening in the church.

Some of the tweeters would deny that. The Rev Jeremy Fletcher, Vicar of Beverly Minster, said: “Being a priest is one of the most varied jobs anyone could have. From one hour to the next you can be with people in their best and worst everyday experiences. No two days are the same. I want to tweet about it to let people know what it’s like doing what I do and about the fantastic people and organisations who welcome the church’s involvement.”

Another tweeter, the Rev Kate Bottley, a vicar and FE college chaplain from North Nottinghamshire, said that the project “provides a unique opportunity to demonstrate the rich diversity of life in the Church of England. It’s great to think that these tweets might paint a colourful picture of the day-to-day runnings of the Church of England. From Morning Prayer to afternoon tea, Our Fathers to Mothers’ Unions, from food festivals to food banks, this Twitter project gives glimpses of the glorious diversity that is the life of the Church.