The social media giant has rolled out a new prayer request
feature, a tool embraced by some religious leaders as a cutting-edge way to
engage the faithful online. Others are eyeing it warily as they weigh its
usefulness against the privacy and security concerns they have with Facebook.
In Facebook Groups employing the feature, members can use it
to rally prayer power for upcoming job interviews, illnesses, and other
personal challenges big and small. After they create a post, other users can
tap an “I prayed” button, respond with a “like” or other reaction, leave a
comment or send a direct message.
Facebook began testing it in the US in December as part of
an ongoing effort to support faith communities, according to a statement
attributed to a company spokesperson.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic we've seen many faith and
spirituality communities using our services to connect, so we're starting to
explore new tools to support them,” it said.
The Rev. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas,
a Southern Baptist megachurch, was among the pastors enthusiastically welcoming
of the prayer feature.
“Facebook and other social media platforms continue to be
tremendous tools to spread the Gospel of Christ and connect believers with one
another — especially during this pandemic,” he said. “While any tool can be
misused, I support any effort like this that encourages people to turn to the
one true God in our time of need.”
Adeel Zeb, a Muslim chaplain at The Claremont Colleges in
California, also was upbeat.
“As long as these companies initiate proper precautions and
protocols to ensure the safety of religiously marginalised communities, people
of faith should jump on board supporting this vital initiative,” he said.
Under its data policy, Facebook uses the information it
gathers in a variety of ways, including to personalize advertisements. But the
company says advertisers are not able to use a person's prayer posts to target
ads.
The Rev. Bob Stec, pastor of St. Ambrose Catholic Parish in
Brunswick, Ohio, said via email that on one hand, he sees the new feature as a
positive affirmation of people's need for an “authentic community” of prayer,
support and worship.
But “even while this is a ‘good thing,' it is not necessary
the deeply authentic community that we need," he said. “We need to join
our voices and hands in prayer. We need to stand shoulder to shoulder with each
other and walk through great moments and challenges together.”
Stec also worried about privacy concerns surrounding the
sharing of deeply personal traumas.
“Is it wise to post everything about everyone for the whole
world to see?” he said. “On a good day we would all be reflective and make wise
choices. When we are under stress or distress or in a difficult moment, it's
almost too easy to reach out on Facebook to everyone.”
However, Jacki King, the minister to women at Second Baptist
Conway, a Southern Baptist congregation in Conway, Arkansas, sees a potential
benefit for people who are isolated amid the pandemic and struggling with
mental health, finances and other issues.
“They're much more likely to get on and make a comment than
they are to walk into a church right now,” King said. “It opens a line of
communication.”
Bishop Paul Egensteiner of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America's Metropolitan New York Synod said he has been dismayed by some
aspects of Facebook but welcomes the feature, which bears similarities to a
digital prayer request already used by the synod's churches.
“I hope this is a genuine effort from Facebook to help
religious organisations advance their mission,” Egensteiner said. “I also pray
that Facebook will continue improving its practices to stop misinformation on
social media, which is also affecting our religious communities and efforts.”
The Rev. Thomas McKenzie, who leads Church of the Redeemer,
an Anglican congregation in Nashville, Tennessee, said he wanted to hate the
feature — he views Facebook as willing to exploit anything for money, even
people's faith.
But he thinks it could be encouraging to those willing to
use it: “Facebook's evil motivations might have actually provided a tool that
can be for good.”
His chief concern with any Internet technology, he added, is
that it can encourage people to stay physically apart even when it is
unnecessary.
“You cannot participate fully in the body of Christ online.
It's not possible," McKenzie said. "But these tools may give people
the impression that it's possible.”
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union of Reform Judaism,
said he understood why some people would view the initiative skeptically.
“But in the moment we're in, I don't know many people who
don't have a big part of their prayer life online,” he said. “We've all been
using the chat function for something like this — sharing who we are praying
for.”
Crossroads Community Church, a nondenominational
congregation in Vancouver, Washington, saw the function go live about 10 weeks
ago in its Facebook Group, which has roughly 2,500 members.
About 20 to 30 prayer requests are posted each day,
eliciting 30 to 40 responses apiece, according to Gabe Moreno, executive pastor
of ministries. Each time someone responds, the initial poster gets a
notification.
Deniece Flippen, a moderator for the group, turns off the
alerts for her posts, knowing that when she checks back she will be greeted
with a flood of support.
Flippen said that unlike with in-person group prayer, she
doesn't feel the Holy Spirit or the physical manifestations she calls the “holy
goosebumps." But the virtual experience is fulfilling nonetheless.
“It's comforting to see that they're always there for me and
we're always there for each other,” Flippen said.
Members are asked on Fridays to share which requests got
answered, and some get shoutouts in the Sunday morning livestreamed services.
Moreno said he knows Facebook is not acting out of purely
selfless motivation — it wants more user engagement with the platform. But his
church's approach to it is theologically based, and they are trying to follow
Jesus' example.
“We should go where the people are,” Moreno said. “The
people are on Facebook. So we're going to go there.”