Would you ever text during Mass?

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Our parish readers started including a new announcement before Mass: “Please do not text during Mass.”

Wow.

Would YOU ever text during Mass? Are there legitimate reasons why someone would text during Mass?

I need some perspective here. Thanks!
 
I personally would never text during mass unless there was a dire emergency which required texting. This would be true of other situations as well, such as during a class or a lecture. Having said this, I do remember attending a mass at a military chapel when several beepers began to go off at the same time. The soldiers turned off their beepers and left the church. I can only imagine there was an emergency of some sort.
 
I personally would NEVER text during Mass, but I know there are many people – young AND old – who have been texting during Mass at our parish. To me, that’s just disrespectful.
 
People text during Mass often. I once sat next to someone at Mass who sat their the entire time with her iPhone texting with the sound on, so I could hear every letter she typed. I was once kneeling during the silent Canon and the woman behind me started texting, again with the sound on so I could hear every letter. I could also feel the people around me glaring at her.

I keep my iPhone on airplane mode so that nothing can get through to it and it can’t make any noises. I use my iPhone in church and our adoration chapel for the purposes of prayer, and I will use the search function if I’m looking for a specific prayer, so it may appear at times that I am texting, but I leave my phone in my purse during Mass.
 
Absolutely not, if I had an emergency that was needing my attention, I would leave the Church and go outside to handle it. I sat in front of a man a few months ago that continued to have his phone ring, not once but several times without turning it off. I was so distracted that I sinned. I would never want to be the cause of someone sinning in church:thumbsup:
 
I will admit that occasionally my cantor and I will text mid Mass to confirm or change a number of hymn verses or tunes. Thats the only way possible since we are a city block away from each other and the old phone system connecting the loft to the sacristy was ripped out some years back.
 
Texting or taking calls or letting your phone during mass is kind of rude, and I say that without judging anyone because I do not know why they are doing it. This being said I would say to those who are using their phones for any reason without a valid, earth shaking reason (i.e. sick person or other emergency) to consider carefully where they are; in Church in front of the Blessed Sacrament where it would serve us better to place our minds and souls in communication with Him.
 
OrganistRob said:
I will admit that occasionally my cantor and I will text mid Mass to confirm or change a number of hymn verses or tunes. Thats the only way possible since we are a city block away from each other and the old phone system connecting the loft to the sacristy was ripped out some years back.
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Yea…for me its business. I do 3-4 masses in assembly line. One of them, I do my best to pay strict attention and be “my” Sunday mass. The rest of the time I’m working, getting texts from musicians asking about times, music, or attendance.

To be clear: no one can see me text, its on silent, and when I’m playing, I’m always completely attentive to what’s going on.
 
OrganistRob said:
I will admit that occasionally my cantor and I will text mid Mass to confirm or change a number of hymn verses or tunes. Thats the only way possible since we are a city block away from each other and the old phone system connecting the loft to the sacristy was ripped out some years back.
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I think this is the electronic equivalent of of cantor/organist back of the hand whisper - not in the same league as someone texting someone else during mass for a totally vacuous reason. I work the projector at mass ( cue for some on this site to bring their breakfast up!)
and sometimes have to rely on hand signals from the musicians to tell me that some eejit (Tim the Flautist, my son) has given out a different hymn and could I just wing it - on these occasions it’s just as well I don’t text - it would lead to excommunication LOL
 
Cat said:
Our parish readers started including a new announcement before Mass: “Please do not text during Mass.”

Wow.

Would YOU ever text during Mass? Are there legitimate reasons why someone would text during Mass?

I need some perspective here. Thanks!
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“Emergencies” can be open to interpretation, but I am going to take a wild guess that this parish announcement is more linked to the typical parishoner in the pew (both young and old) who simply CANNOT and WILL NOT put the phone down!

A relative who used to work for the federal government told me of an incident he saw several years ago. He was at a social event in DC and there was a co-worker who was invited because of the department he worked for, not because of his job title. He was in a small group standing doing chit-chat with two former Secretary of State and a military general. This person’s cell phone rings and not only does he answer the phone he has a full-blown conversation in front of all these people!!! Afterwards, my relative asked him who called and he said it was his friend telling him the neighborhood softball game will be starting at 2:00 PM instead of 1:00 PM. No crisis, no emergency, no concern about the people in front of them.

Lesson learned: Never underestimate some individual’s sense of self-importance.
 
I don’t even take my phone into Church most of the time. If I do, it’s on airplane mode. Once Mass is over, I can put it back on and get any messages I missed.

I can really only imagine a couple of situations where someone could not wait the 45 minutes to an hour to communicate with the outside world.
 
I admit to having occasionally checked for a text while at Mass. This was usually when I had hoped to hear something before Mass started and no one got back to me. But I think general texting during Mass is rude.

I sing in the choir and I do see musicians texting each other if there is no convenient way for them to easily communicate otherwise. Instrumentalists, cantors, and music directors, and choir directors often work from earlier in the morning until past noon and sometimes they need to communicate with family members and people at other parishes where they will soon be serving. They are sometimes contacted to fill in for a sick person at another parish so the sooner this musician replies the less time an anxious person at another parish will have to spend with his phone. I think most musicians try to confine texting to before and after Mass but they may have to do it while in the church.​

Of course if you see someone just glancing at a phone there is no way to tell from a distance if they are checking a text or just checking the time. I realize that checking the time during Mass might be seen as rude too but I don’t think most people cared back when people glanced at their wrist to see what time it was.
 
I personally have never texted during Mass, but then again I’m not one of those people whose eyes are always glued to my phone screen.🙂

I do think it is acceptable to text during Mass in certain emergency situations, however. I remember pagers going off on rare occasions in my old parish - there were quite a few doctors who attended Mass there, and every once in a while they would excuse themselves to take a call relating to a patient or a hospital staff shortage. I would imagine the distraction would not offend Jesus if it were in the urgent service of another.🙂
 
No I would not. I turn off my phone - sound and vibrate- when I go to church. I wonder what others see though, when I open my online prayer site. I can access readings of the day, LOTH, and a myriad of other prayer there. I do access the readings because frankly, aging being what it is (spotty short term memory) I cannot remember the psalm antiphon from verse to verse :o, so I get it online. Also say some prayers after Mass on the site.
 
Of course not. I always turn my phone off. I know people do text during mass. I’ve seen my sister do it. It’s very disrespectful.
 
Ohana said:
No I would not. I turn off my phone - sound and vibrate- when I go to church. I wonder what others see though, when I open my online prayer site. I can access readings of the day, LOTH, and a myriad of other prayer there. I do access the readings because frankly, aging being what it is (spotty short term memory) I cannot remember the psalm antiphon from verse to verse :o, so I get it online. Also say some prayers after Mass on the site.
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I use iPieta at Mass sometimes, and I’m sure there are some who might think I’m doing something other than going over the readings or prayers.

However, as one of my friends once said: “your opinion of me is none of my business”. Let people think what they wish.
 
I keep my phone on silent and the front down on the seat. A lot of my patients have my cell number. Since I don’t deal with life or death situations they know that if I’m at church they will receive a call and/or text when I get back to my car.
 
SMHW said:
I admit to having occasionally checked for a text while at Mass. This was usually when I had hoped to hear something before Mass started and no one got back to me. But I think general texting during Mass is rude.

I sing in the choir and I do see musicians texting each other if there is no convenient way for them to easily communicate otherwise. Instrumentalists, cantors, and music directors, and choir directors often work from earlier in the morning until past noon and sometimes they need to communicate with family members and people at other parishes where they will soon be serving. They are sometimes contacted to fill in for a sick person at another parish so the sooner this musician replies the less time an anxious person at another parish will have to spend with his phone. I think most musicians try to confine texting to before and after Mass but they may have to do it while in the church.​

Of course if you see someone just glancing at a phone there is no way to tell from a distance if they are checking a text or just checking the time. I realize that checking the time during Mass might be seen as rude too but I don’t think most people cared back when people glanced at their wrist to see what time it was.
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This seems to be a musician problem"🙂

In our parish there were enough complaints about choir members and musicians texting that the parish council recommended to the pastor and he imposed the ruling that 1) there will be NO USE of texting devices/phones during Mass, and 2) all devices by choir members and musicians will be collected and locked in a drawer in the sacristy before Mass and will be returned after Mass, and 3) if people were not able to follow these rules, they would be “encouraged” to seek out another form of ministry.

It may sounds draconian, but I know the pastor’s kind admonishes and requests for better behavior was blatantly ignored. Sometimes in life when you act like an eight-year-old you get treated like an eight-year-old.
 
Actually, I haven’t during mass

but I did email the priest himself before the service has started once knowing full well he wont get it till that till the night but that isn’t the issue with me in that this my way of processing stuff and was feeling that rubbish… and I admitted in the email I was already in church.
Before and after services and when I’m in the choir I’ve read the odd text during the service may be but can’t say for sure though possibly not. And I can’t say anything either since the priest has been kind enough to let me read kindle during communion because that way I sincerly am better occupied than if left to my own contemplations. I can’t handle that, even that short space even as a long withstanding attending.
Don’t worry me so long as devices are on silent and people stay in their seats and not constantly running out like people do at business meetings and groups. That really annoys me because it is very disruptive to everyone. Its like as though they wanna say they are important…🤷
 
I always thought that if I had forgotten to turn off my cell phone and it rang during Mass, that I would answer it and say “Yes Lord all those sinners are here!”
 
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