How bad is it where you are?

Jan 8...during the worship service main prayer...there were 4 cell phones that went off.

One of the deacons turned around and asked me ..what was my count...lol

Should we wait until 70 X 7 go off??

Ya know..we don't want to offend anyone and possibly have them never come back to church...so laptops, gameboys, X boxes, Mini TV's for the football playoffs...Walkmans...you name it..anything goes..or should I say anything stays..??

I really think that if everyone in the congregation including the pastor stop everything they're doing and stare at the one with the cell phone ringing until they leave or the conversation stops, then the problem will quickly resolve itself.

Some of you will remember about my children's story..where I addresses noise in the sanctuary and brought up the cell phone...for the adults..

then I gave a bulletin from my Baptist preacher buddy to the pastor's wife.
It has a notice about turining off phones.

and then when I visited an Arizona SDA church...they have right on the 2 entry doors..2 small brass plaques to inform the people to turn off the cell phones..

HEY!!!
How about doing BODY SEARCHES????? and use METAL DETECTORS and X-RAY MACHINES???

I dont think its beyond the pale to have a sign asking for cell phones to be turned off. In fact I believe its incredibly rude for anyone to have one on during service; let alone actually answer it.( Yes, I have seen this happen and its usually a teen!) I see "no cell" signs all over in diverse areas. If you cant go 1 hour without that phone, you have a problem. 12 step for cell detatchment

I know courtesy, consideration and restraint are the best solutions, but how much are those cell phone jammers they use in cinemas?

Quote:

---

but how much are those cell phone jammers they use in cinemas?

---

I know of several baseball bats going unused.

Can someone find a cartoon on the internet that addresses this issue...
ya know..a rather rough jimbob type??

i've seen the pastors cell phone ring during while he's talking (not preaching) but doing something i can't remember, not only did it go off but he picked it up.

A lot of time it's not that people go in with the cell on on purpose, but they forget to turn it off. Churches i go to where at teh entrance to the sanctuary where there is a sign telling them to turn it off you rarely hear the phone. Lot's of people dont' read the bulletin so that doens't help a whole lot.

teens will usually put it on silence.

The 'Golden Retriever' delivers again!

The back pew cartoon is a WINNER..
I already put the pic on my desktop and will print some for this sabbath.
Thank you!

I love squirrels so I just had to add the squirrel phone.

These are GREAT! I've been an adamant opponent of cell phone "abuses" since they crossed the line from prestigious car mobiles into everyday lives of ordinary and boring people who really don't need them in the first place. Like everything else in the world, once they make that transition they became an imposition on the rest of civilization. Kind of like how spam and AOL killed the internet.

At any rate, I'm all for having a very firm policy against them at worship service, having that policy explained one on one to each member and even having members sign individual waivers that they understand the purpose of the policy and that violation thereof is grounds for (temporary) confiscation (they can have it back when worship ends). Then there can be a cell phone idiots' room next door to the mothers' room. (But please don't impose these weenies on the poor moms, many of whom need the mothers' room to try to put a sleepyhead down for a nap, nurse an infant, or teach a toddler sanctuary manners.)

I just got a reply from the publisher from the Pacific Union recorder and I sent him the cartoon of the zapped user in the pew.

He had several suggestions to address the cell phone issue and mentioned about me writing a letter to the editor when reverence or worship service articles come up

By permission:

Hmmm. Interesting idea for the Recorder. I don't know if it would fit
one of Tom Mostert's columns or an ethics column. Probably neither, and
it wouldn't be a News story. Maybe you should just address the subject
of cell phones in church in a letter to the editor when you see an
article about worship services or reverance in church -- or anything
that you might tie it to.

It is probably a subject that local church leadership should address.
The problem is that people don't think about their cell phones when they
enter a church. They (we) don't even remember that we have a cell phone
until something reminds us of it -- my phone ringing, someone else's
phone ringing, or a reminder from a worship leader.

There are probably several options for solving the problem:

1. A sign at the entrance to the parking lot, or at a place most people
pass when walking from the parking lot to the sanctuary.
2. A sign by the front door of the church.
3. A sign in the foyer of the church.
4. A sign in the front of the church -- perhaps a lighted sign that is
only illuminated occasionally.
5. A verbal announcement from a worship leader to turn off or silence
your cell phone. In one church I attend often, a worship leader
humorously reminds worshippers to set their phones to "stun," meaning, I
suppose, that if someone calls, the recipient will get an electric
shock.
6. Put a notice in the bulletin, perhaps at the top of the worship page.

I have read that in Europe and Asia it is common for restaurants,
courthouses and other places of assembly to have machines that block all
cell phone signals inside the building. This has not been adopted in the
US because of fears of liability in case a physician, for example,
missed an emergency call and someone died as a result.

Then there is the question how to respond when a cell phone silently
vibrates during the worship service.

Personally, I have solved this by leaving my phone in the car -- when I
think of it.

Thanks for the idea.

Gerry Chudleigh, publisher
Pacific Union Recorder

The publisher loved the cartoon Amelia

Quote:

---

I have read that in Europe and Asia it is common for restaurants,
courthouses and other places of assembly to have machines that block all
cell phone signals inside the building

---

Not in HK. There are way too many of them. According to The CIA World Fact Book , there are 6,855,125 people in HK SAR, and 7,241,400 mobile phones! Actually, though, usually people are pretty good about putting them on silent (though sometimes they still answer them in church, as the story of our pastor I told in another thread). If they forget and leave the ring on, they will grab the phone and run out of the building, and when they come back, the phone is on silent!

I also LOVE the Back Pew cartoon--too funny!

Michelle

Will it come to this?????

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=172750

The last line of the article...

"Those who bring cell phones to church are not committed to God," Escobedo said. "It's very distracting to be praying and suddenly hear birds chirping or techno music."

I think that this is a great idea: for pastor to stop, and everyone in congregation look at the offender w/the ringing cell. Our pastor usually makes some kind of comment about it, interupting his sermon to do so, then carries on with the congregation in laughter. I agree, it is extremely rude to have cells on during church service......

and one day, this all backfired on me....during prayer!! I was so embarrassed I could have died. Never bring the thing to church, but did in this case as I went to pick up darling daughter, it was snowing, and wanted my hubby to have access. Well, forgot to turn it off when we got to the sanctuary......needless to say, I turned it off QUICK!!! Learned my lesson but fast. heehee

Do all those rays affect people at all?

Just think how many cellphone messages are being relayed through the air, maybe even through YOU

I live in a huge medical area. Most of our congregation is on call every weekend. I think silencing the phones or putting them on vibrate would solve the problem.

You all are arguing about a piece of equipment that is necessary for many people to have. Most people at our church couldn't attend if they had to sit home on call and wait for the phone to ring.

I would rather have a sign at the front of the church that said "If your child is acting up or crying, please remove them from the sanctuary" Screaming kids bothers me more than a cell phone.

K

I just watched a sermon by Derek Morris "Healthy Lifestyles"...there's a segment involving cell phones on it. I thought of you JimBob7 when I saw it. I think you may like the sermon.

http://www.forestlakechurch.org/Library/media.asp

There sermon was from 4/9/05.

Just for you NORM

I think people should be reminder to have their cell phone put in silent mode. Paul does that at night and when he takes his phone to church he does that too. All it does is vibrate.

If my dh hears a phone go off in church, he quickly checks his phone to make sure it's turned off. He usually remembers, but always checks.

M