The article uses Scriptural references in additions to quotes from pastors and lay leaders, a first that I’ve seen in these news reports. Here are a few key quotes from the article, which you can read here:

“It doesn’t replace a lot of things — it doesn’t replace church, community or being with people — but it is another way to keep connected. We view it as a way for a leader to communicate with a lot of followers without a lot of extraneous (effort).” – Dale Swanson, Victory Church, Executive Pastor

“The Rev. Dave Evans, 53, senior pastor of Highland Baptist Church in Moore, OK, said he realized 150 to 200 members of his congregation were members of Facebook. He said he decided to try Facebook and Twitter for the outreach opportunities. Evans said Twitter has allowed him to follow the day-to-day lives of others and lets them do the same with him. “It is a way to offer prayer, support and encouragement to each other,” he said.

The Rev. George Back, 67, longtime dean of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, said his church, 127 NW 7, has about 70 people connected to its Facebook page. He said each day, more people are following its tweets on Twitter, though the church only joined the latter a few weeks ago. He said social networking seems to meet a need in a society where lots of people don’t know other people in their immediate vicinity very well. ”If you think back 100 years, people were meeting in the store or the bank. Now people are driving from place to place; they’re pressing the button and going into the garage and not seeing their neighbor,” Back said. ”Today, they are encountering one another in different ways. This enables a process that has been short-circuited by modern times. In that sense, it’s not brand-new; it’s a resurgence of something that was lost and now is found — that ongoing connection.”

Respected ratings giant, Nielsen, said Twitter grew 1,382% from February 2008 to February 2009. Facebook was in second place with a still impressive 228% growth over the same period.

If your church leadership hasn’t heard about Twitter by now, they’re quickly becoming the minority. It’s time – nearly past time – to learn about Twitter for churches. Make sure your church leader has a copy of “The Reason Your Church Must Twitter” E-book for only $5.

Is this the end of Twitter? Hardly.

People have asked me if they should be on Facebook OR Twitter. My answer is: “Probably both.”

Twitter is a clean, simple and uncomplicated way to share information with a very specific group of people or a large group of people, depending on how you use the tool. Facebook is actually much more robust for sharing a large amount of information and creating a singular space to keep lots of information updated.

Twitter also lets anyone with a cell phone simply text “Follow username” to 40404 and, voila, they’re following that person’s Tweets – even if they themselves are not subscribed to Twitter. This is basic SMS messaging (texting) and is the simplest way for people to engage those on Twitter.

Yet the signup process and simplicity of Twitter means that simply staying up-to-date is easier on Twitter and – probably the biggest key point – far easier to manage followers/users than Facebook. Why? Third-party apps and, if need be, the Twitter browser interface.

Grouping people with tools like TweetDeck or managing multiple accounts with tools like Twhirl make it far easier to manage your Twitter tool than Facebook.

At the end of the day, Facebook is a wonderful tool that I recommend (and use myself). This is simply a case of “right tool for the right job”.