August 7, 2009

CHICAGO – The Twitter phenomenon has spilled over into the multimedia coverage of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Minneapolis.

This is the first year blogging and social media sites will be used during a churchwide assembly, said Ben McDonald Coltvet, managing editor of the ELCA Web site – http://www.ELCA.org.

"Twitter offers new opportunities for sharing information instantaneously, and it's a venue where anyone can join the conversation," he said. "Through social media sites people will be able to share their perspectives online with sisters and brothers in the faith around the world."

ELCA members will be able to keep up with the actions of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly via live video streams of plenary sessions and news conferences, plus photo galleries, news releases, blogs and social media sites Facebook and Twitter.

"We have an unprecedented opportunity to share assembly updates with a wide audience," McDonald Coltvet said. "Whether you're in the Minneapolis Convention Center or on the other side of the country, you'll be able to witness the actions of the assembly."

Twitter users are asked attach the tag "#CWA09" to their tweets, so anyone can follow these messages by search for "#CWA09" on http://search.twitter.com/ on the Web. Assembly voting results will be posted to http://twitter.com/ELCA/, and http://facebook.com/Lutherans/, on the Web.

Assembly highlights in video, photo and audio formats will be posted online at http://www.ELCA.org/assembly/multimedia/, on the ELCA Web Site.

Highlights will touch on particular assembly actions, McDonald Coltvet said.

He expects more than 15,000 visitors a day to the site during the assembly. The assembly Web page – http://www.ELCA.org/assembly/ – has seen increased traffic in the past three months.

The 2005 Churchwide Assembly recorded the highest Web traffic ever for ELCA.org, while the highest so far this year has been the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans, he added.

Winners of an ELCA Video Contest will be announced during the afternoon plenary session Saturday, Aug. 22. Selected entries will be shown during other plenary sessions, McDonald Coltvet said.

All videos are at http://www.GodsworkOurhands.org/, on the Web. Links to the winning videos will be posted by Aug. 23 to the ELCA.org home page.

ELCA News Service
Carrie L. Draeger is a senior communication major with a concentration in journalism at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wash. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA News Service.