University chaplain squeezes Christmas sermon into text message

|PIC1|With students heading home for the Christmas holidays, one university chaplain is making sure his flock still come together on Christmas Day by texting his sermon to them.

The Rev Matt Ward, who leads Emmanuel Café Church at the University of Leeds, normally meets students over a cup of coffee on campus but with term time ending soon, he’s hoping modern technology will help them keep in touch during the Christmas break.

On Christmas Day, his students will not only receive their pressies from friends and family but Ward’s sermon squeezed into a 160-character text message.

“Café Church runs in 10-week bursts during uni terms so we always miss the major festivals,’” says Ward.

“That’s a bit of a challenge for a church community but there are still ways to celebrate ‘together’, even when we’re not in the same place at the same time.

“I thought a Christmas Day message would be one way of doing it, but what you can say about the Incarnation of Jesus within those sort of text limits?! I haven’t attempted it yet in Twitter’s 140 characters. That really would be a challenge.”

His Christmas text sermon reads: “Christmas. A time of being with family, gr8 or not. Even in a manger Jesus is born in the heart of family. Whatever 2day brings remember Emmanuel, God IS with us.”

Emmanuel Café Church is now in its fourth year at Leeds. Students meet from 5pm to 6.30pm on termtime Sundays in the Emmanuel Centre.