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WAVENEY ANN MOOREThe Rev. Tom Norton of Christ United Methodist Church has found a novel way to keep in touch with his flock.
ST. PETERSBURG - The cell phone rang while he preached. That's what did it for the Rev. Tom Norton.
He had been struggling to find a lesson in the insistent clamor of everyday life, from the alarm that jolted him awake each morning to the coffee pot that beeped to announce that his brew was ready. Now it was a cell phone in the middle of Sunday service.
But the interruption was the genesis of an idea. Why not use what at times can be an annoyance to further the love of God?
And that's what the congregation at Christ United Methodist Church now does once every month. Members pause during service to call shut-ins, people who have not shown up in a while and friends and family whose numbers are stored in individual cell phone directories.
It was that time again Sunday. Early in the service, during the time set aside for notices and greetings, Norton announced that the congregation would call the church's shut-ins.
The script for what has been named the Phone Patch Ministry was projected on two screens at the front of the church and Norton handed out slips of paper with the names and phone numbers of those to be called. The large sanctuary soon filled with the buzz of conversation.
"We are thinking about you and praying for you. Have a great day and may God bless you," members said into their phones. Some passed their mobile phones around for others to use. Norton, wearing a casual summertime wardrobe of tropical shirt and slacks, placed two calls.
"One of them I didn't get an answer," he said.
"I called another person that I know. She answered and she was grateful for the call. She thought that it was absolutely a phenomenal thing."
The idea to launch the phone ministry was born of the nagging efficiency of today's technological world, Norton said.
"I woke up one day to the fact that my world was filled with beeps. My alarm clock beeps at me in the morning, my automobile, my microwave and even my coffee pot beeps at me. I had tried to write a sermon dealing with our beep-filled environment and even asked other preachers to focus in on what it means," he said.
"One Sunday, I used the phrase that we need to focus in on what God is saying when God is calling us. I no more said that when someone's cell phone rang during the service, and I thought, I sure hope that's God calling."
Early one day - 3 a.m., to be precise - he awoke with the cell phone idea.
"Since they are already invading the worship service," he thought, "let's put them to good use."
His congregation at 467 First Ave. N could use their free night and weekend minutes to glorify God and tell others about his love.
Norton laughed as he recalled his wife's reaction to being awoken to be told of his idea. Pam Norton simply ordered her husband to take some aspirin and go back to sleep.
The ministry was launched in February. Sunday, the congregation, smaller than usual because of the summer months, called most of the church's 86 shut-ins. The response continues to be positive, Norton said.
Though, he added, "We did hear from one person that we called while they were worshiping at another church."