www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall I think someone has the wrong idea

Prayers are answered for distracted congregation Tue May 31, 9:31 AM ET



LONDON (Reuters) - British telecoms operator BT Group Plc has wired up a church in Wales to allow the congregation to hook onto local high-speed Internet connections when they want a break from the sermon. Britain's largest fixed-line telecoms operator said on Tuesday it had installed a Wi-Fi wireless network access point, known as a hotspot, in Reverend Keith Kimber's St John's Rectory church in the city of Cardiff.

"The church has to move with the times and I wanted to make St John's a sanctuary for everyone, including business people with laptops and mobiles," Kimber said in a statement issued by BT. "I have no problem with people quietly sending an email or surfing the Internet in church, as long as they respect the church."

Wi-Fi -- a medium-range wireless network that is often rolled out in coffee shops and airport lounges -- allows users of laptop computers and other gadgets to access fast Internet connections without having to struggle with wires and mismatched phone plugs.

As I said elsewhere on the Byzantine board today. Please pray through the intercession of Pope St Gregory the Great, Patron of England, father of the Roman Mission, that England, Europe and all the Occident will re-evangelised and return to faith from apostasy.

Bless...(I've picked that up from Dr Roman )
Myles

What does one expect anyway. The sooner they return to the faith the better.
In a ecclesial communion where anything goes, this article doesnt supprise me in the least.
Through the prayers of the Mother of God, oh Savior save our souls.
Stephanos I

St. David of Wales pray for us.

I just don't get it.
why do people go to Church, to the sunday mass, if their main concern is sending some emails!!!

we need more Jesus fanatics in this world!

What ~I~ don't get is that this has the blessing of the pastor! Now, I would expect something like this from a renegade parish council...but NOT from the pastor.

Gaudior, wondering if he will be e-mailing God from the altar...

This topic reminds me of a sign I saw the other day on a church near my office that says "God's not into technology, you won't reach him through your cell phone, please turn off your cell phone and talk to him the traditional way".

This reassures my conviction that these portable gadgets are more similar to a ball and chain than to anything else.

God bless.

ROTFL! I love it.

Gaudior, glad SOMEONE has the right idea, and isn't afraid of expressing it!

Is St.John's perhaps an Anglican church?Whether it is Anglican,Roman Catholic, or maybe even Methodist(they seem to be common in Wales),I think it's an outrage that one would use a computer during any divine service.I get upset enough when a cell phone rings in my church.I was a guest in one church, where cell phones rang during the services.Afterwards,the Protodeacon reminded the congregation of Our Saviour's words,"My house is the house of prayer:but ye have made it a den of thieves"(Luke 19;46).

Sign on a church on my way home:

"God answers knee-mail!"

In Christ,

Michael

Father Al,

Yes, Saint John the Baptist [cardiffcentralparish.org] is part of the Parish of Central Cardiff, in the Diocese of Llandaff, a jurisdiction of the Church in Wales, an independent province of the Anglican Communion.

Many years,

Neil

Funny, but true.

A couple years ago I was in a church for a weekday Mass - it was in the church nearest the Pentagon right after 9/11.

There was a guy with his palm pilot out and my first thought was uncharitable - "look at him, not paying attention."

The church's Missals did not have weekday Readings in them.

Anyway, I nosily looked over his shoulder to see what he was doing. He had the daily Readings programmed on it. I felt like an idiot and rather a jerk for thinking ill of him, when he was paying more attention than I (clearly) was.

Post Script:

My own unnoticed, but still less than charitable, behavior reminded me of a Browning (I think?) poem where one monk is plotting against another and pointing out all of his adverary's flaws as a monk...