What To Do Next Time A Cellular Phone Rings During Your Church Service

If you’ve been going to church for any length of time in this technological age then you’ve likely heard a cellular phone ring during a Sunday morning church service.  I know I have.

Although they are distracting, I’m always amazed by the uniqueness of the ring tones.  Some are loud, annoying alarms while others play a 30 second version of one of the latest Top 40 songs.  Some have a rhythmic jingle and others screech and cry and you have to wonder…why? (Hey, that rhymes!  I’m a poet and I didn’t know it!)

But I’m sure we can all agree that cellular phones sounding off during the church worship service is nothing less than annoying.

I have had phones go off while I was preaching and I can say, without hesitation, that I’ve been distracted each and every time it happens.  I have lost my place in my notes and it is confusing, as a preacher, when you’re trying to make a point and every head in the congregation turns their attention away from what you are saying to locate the criminal in the crowd! (Okay, maybe criminal is a bit much)

But let’s be honest, it is usually the owner of the cell phone that is the most embarrassed during those awkward moments, right?  I mean, you can see from the look on their face that they’d like to do nothing more than to crawl under a rock and die.  Immediately.

It is worst for the female churchgoers because they tend to keep their phones embedded in purses and it takes four or five annoying rings before they can locate the device and turn it off.  Oops.

But have you ever seen people actually answer the call and start talking, while they sit there?  I’ve seen that once or twice.  The nerve!

I wonder what the Apostle Paul would have done if he was preaching in a local synagogue and, just when he began declaring that Jesus is the awaited Messiah…a cellular went off playing the Happy Birthday song?

Or what would Jesus have done if he was preaching the Sermon On The Mount and a cell phone went off under Peter’s tunic?  Hmm, I wonder.

Here’s a funny video made be a church regarding monetary fines for cell phones ringing during church.  Maybe churches across America should adopt a similar policy.  Then again, maybe not.

• $25 fine if it rings during announcements
• $50 fine if it rings during prayer time
• $____________ fine if it rings during the pastor’s sermon (watch the video to find out)

* Image credit: ewige (Creative Commons)