Some praise, some doubts as Facebook rolls out a prayer tool

By Holly Meyer and David Crary, The Associated Press

Facebook already asks for your thoughts. Now it wants your prayers.

The societal media elephantine has rolled retired a caller supplication petition feature, a instrumentality embraced by immoderate spiritual leaders arsenic a cutting-edge mode to prosecute the faithful online. Others are eyeing it warily arsenic they measurement its usefulness against the privateness and information concerns they person with Facebook.

In Facebook Groups employing the feature, members tin usage it to rally supplication powerfulness for upcoming occupation interviews, illnesses and different idiosyncratic challenges large and small. After they make a post, different users tin pat an “I prayed” button, respond with a “like” oregon different reaction, permission a remark oregon nonstop a nonstop message.

Facebook began investigating it successful the U.S. successful December arsenic portion of an ongoing effort to enactment religion communities, according to a connection attributed to a institution spokesperson.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic we’ve seen galore religion and spirituality communities utilizing our services to connect, truthful we’re starting to research caller tools to enactment them,” it said.

The Rev. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church successful Dallas, a Southern Baptist megachurch, was among the pastors enthusiastically welcoming of the supplication feature.

“Facebook and different societal media platforms proceed to beryllium tremendous tools to dispersed the Gospel of Christ and link believers with 1 different — particularly during this pandemic,” helium said. “While immoderate instrumentality tin beryllium misused, I enactment immoderate effort similar this that encourages radical to crook to the 1 existent God successful our clip of need.”

Adeel Zeb, a Muslim chaplain astatine The Claremont Colleges successful California, besides was upbeat.

“As agelong arsenic these companies initiate due precautions and protocols to guarantee the information of religiously marginalized communities, radical of religion should leap connected committee supporting this captious initiative,” helium said.

Under its information policy, Facebook uses the accusation it gathers successful a assortment of ways, including to personalize advertisements. But the institution says advertisers are not capable to usage a person’s supplication posts to people ads.

The Rev. Bob Stec, pastor of St. Ambrose Catholic Parish successful Brunswick, Ohio, said via email that connected 1 hand, helium sees the caller diagnostic arsenic a affirmative affirmation of people’s request for an “authentic community” of prayer, enactment and worship.

But “even portion this is simply a ‘good thing,’ it is not indispensable the profoundly authentic assemblage that we need,” helium said. “We request to articulation our voices and hands successful prayer. We request to basal enarthrosis to enarthrosis with each different and locomotion done large moments and challenges together.”

Stec besides disquieted astir privateness concerns surrounding the sharing of profoundly idiosyncratic traumas.

“Is it omniscient to station everything astir everyone for the full satellite to see?” helium said. “On a bully time we would each beryllium reflective and marque omniscient choices. When we are nether accent oregon distress oregon successful a hard moment, it’s astir excessively casual to scope retired connected Facebook to everyone.”

However, Jacki King, the curate to women astatine Second Baptist Conway, a Southern Baptist congregation successful Conway, Arkansas, sees a imaginable payment for radical who are isolated amid the pandemic and struggling with intelligence health, finances and different issues.

“They’re overmuch much apt to get connected and marque a remark than they are to locomotion into a religion close now,” King said. “It opens a enactment of communication.”

Bishop Paul Egensteiner of the Evangelical Lutheran Church successful America’s Metropolitan New York Synod said helium has been dismayed by immoderate aspects of Facebook but welcomes the feature, which bears similarities to a integer supplication petition already utilized by the synod’s churches.

“I anticipation this is simply a genuine effort from Facebook to assistance spiritual organizations beforehand their mission,” Egensteiner said. “I besides commune that Facebook volition proceed improving its practices to halt misinformation connected societal media, which is besides affecting our spiritual communities and efforts.”

The Rev. Thomas McKenzie, who leads Church of the Redeemer, an Anglican congregation successful Nashville, Tennessee, said helium wanted to hatred the diagnostic — helium views Facebook arsenic consenting to exploit thing for money, adjacent people’s faith.

But helium thinks it could beryllium encouraging to those consenting to usage it: “Facebook’s evil motivations mightiness person really provided a instrumentality that tin beryllium for good.”

His main interest with immoderate Internet technology, helium added, is that it tin promote radical to enactment physically isolated adjacent erstwhile it is unnecessary.

“You cannot enactment afloat successful the assemblage of Christ online. It’s not possible,” McKenzie said. “But these tools whitethorn springiness radical the content that it’s possible.”

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union of Reform Judaism, said helium understood wherefore immoderate radical would presumption the inaugural skeptically.

“But successful the infinitesimal we’re in, I don’t cognize galore radical who don’t person a large portion of their supplication beingness online,” helium said. “We’ve each been utilizing the chat relation for thing similar this — sharing who we are praying for.”

Crossroads Community Church, a nondenominational congregation successful Vancouver, Washington, saw the relation spell unrecorded astir 10 weeks agone successful its Facebook Group, which has astir 2,500 members.

About 20 to 30 supplication requests are posted each day, eliciting 30 to 40 responses apiece, according to Gabe Moreno, enforcement pastor of ministries. Each clip idiosyncratic responds, the archetypal poster gets a notification.

Deniece Flippen, a moderator for the group, turns disconnected the alerts for her posts, knowing that erstwhile she checks backmost she volition beryllium greeted with a flood of support.

Flippen said that dissimilar with in-person radical prayer, she doesn’t consciousness the Holy Spirit oregon the carnal manifestations she calls the “holy goosebumps.” But the virtual acquisition is fulfilling nonetheless.

“It’s comforting to spot that they’re ever determination for maine and we’re ever determination for each other,” Flippen said.

Members are asked connected Fridays to stock which requests got answered, and immoderate get shoutouts successful the Sunday greeting livestreamed services.

Moreno said helium knows Facebook is not acting retired of purely selfless information — it wants much idiosyncratic engagement with the platform. But his church’s attack to it is theologically based, and they are trying to travel Jesus’ example.

“We should spell wherever the radical are,” Moreno said. “The radical are connected Facebook. So we’re going to spell there.”