EAST TEXAS (KYTX) -- Did you miss church last Sunday? These days, you can find almost anything you missed by logging on to Facebook or Twitter.
We live in a society driven by social media. With every click, we're logging on connecting to the people around us.
Every Sunday, Ruth Stoddard looks up from her pew at Longview Christian Church to see a big screen in the pulpit reminding her to get on Facebook.
Ruth's church wants her to stay connected even during the worship service.
"We're able to get information that happens right away," said Ruth Stoddard.
And if, for some reason, Ruth can't make it to church.
"They always post the sermon the day or two after," added Stoddard.
It's modern day religion, with a Bible in one hand and a smart phone in the other.
"It gives you a focus point to be able to connect to other people to your church...maybe before they even come and try it out," said Stoddard.
Longview Christian has about 200 "likes" on its Facebook page. That's about half the congregation.
"We don't have a directory here anymore. Now, we just point people to Facebook. If we want to connect with that person. They're probably on Facebook," said Ben Ehmke, media director.
Ben Ehmke is the church's media director. His job is to inform the congregation from his computer, 24 hours a day.
"Now, like the week of...we can send an announcement out and everyone knows about it," said Ehmke.
"This past Sunday, we had a family that joined the church. They had visited the week before and I happened to see them in the lobby after church and I asked them how they found out about us and they said they were referred by members to check us out," said Bill Aven with Central Baptist Church.
They sent the family to the church's Facebook page. At Central Baptist Church in Tyler, you can see how social media savvy they are before you walk through the door.
"We're all about connecting to people and we're always looking for ways to reach out to people and with a strong connection. Facebook has given us a wonderful new tool," said Pastor Kim Beckham.
Central's Facebook page has a preview of the sermon coming up that Sunday. They also have a specific page for people in need of prayer.
"If they're in the hospital we can let all of our people know to pray for them," said Aven.
Whether it's prayer through a status update or a web poll on what meal to bring to the next church function.
"When we can show we care about someone because we're immediately on top of the need they have. That's powerful to us," said Pastor Beckham.
Social media is changing religion one friend request, status update and tweet at a time.
It's not just young people who are logging onto the church's Facebook and Twitter pages. A large number of older members, 50 plus, are getting on the Internet and staying connected to their younger church friends.
