Young Methodists to offer service of Remembrance on Twitter

Young Methodists will be holding two special services ofRemembrance on social networking website Twitter at 10.15am GMT onFriday 11 and Sunday 13 November.

Thought to be the first Remembrance service of its kind in Britain,Twitter Remembrance (www.twitter.com/Poppy_Tweet)will feature prayers and readings as well as hymns and music linkedfrom YouTube. There will also be a two-minute Twitter silence toremember those who have fallen in battle. The elements of theservice will be live-tweeted by @Poppy_Tweet and will includecontributions from a variety of people, including the President ofthe Methodist Conference, the Revd Leo Osborn.

James Thomas, from Cardiff, came up with the idea. "I started theproject on Wednesday night when I realised that no one had done aTwitter-based Remembrance service before, so I decided to startone," he said. "We hope to engage young people and other people whowouldn't otherwise engage with Remembrance, whilst raisingawareness for the Royal British Legion, Peace Pledge Union andother related charities."

Revd Joanne Cox, Evangelism in Contemporary Culture Officer for theMethodist Church in Britain, has written a special Twitter sermon,designed to be delivered in a number of short tweets. She said:"Remembrance is a powerful opportunity for us all to stop in themidst of life. As we stop, and as we remember people who havefought for peace in so many different ways, we are also respondingto the invitation to be people of peace and courageourselves."

The group aims to bring a traditional Remembrance serviceexperience to those who are unable to attend a formal act ofremembrance for any reason. It is run entirely by volunteers and,although it is not formally affiliated with the Royal BritishLegion and the Peace Pledge Union, the group hopes to raiseawareness for these, and similar, organisations.