ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT : Shepherding Via Cyberspace

Sound impossible? How can anyone worship authentically on the web? What does pastoral care look like? How can transformation take place when you can't see your pastor, parishioner, or visitor?

In the next two editions of our Alumni E-News, we will bring stories about alumni who are doing ministry in this virtual setting. We will be sharing how the seemingly impossible is, in fact, possible. It's being done. This first story gives you a glimpse into the how.

Elizabeth Jackson, MDiv '11, is the founder and leader of In The World, a faith community that meets wherever there is a need. "If you want to be a part of the face-to-face experience, we are limited by the bounds of time and space to Denver. But we do all the maintaining and discussion online, so you can find us on Facebook and Twitter," she said. "We are Denver-based and we are globally-minded."

Jackson described how a pastoral care encounter might begin on social media. "Through Facebook, I became aware of a tragedy that was playing out on the Western slope," she said. Jackson maintained contact with a person who had knowledge of the situation but who was not directly affected and asked, "What do you need? Can I help in anyway?" It was through Facebook messenger and text messaging that she was able to be present as the tragedy moved to Denver when the patient came to a children's hospital. "They were four-plus hours from home, from their pastor, from their faith community. I was able to be the presence in the hospital room for that pastoral care experience. And unfortunately, the tragedy played out again for the next forty-eight hours after that," she said.

Jackson further explains how Facebook messenger and text messaging were the best means for acquiring her assistance. "I don't think either of us would have picked up the phone and it wouldn't have been a common sense thing to do but that's only because someone posted 'we need prayers' or 'this is going on' that one of us then reached out. Then the person who was having the trauma was able to have a friendly face, a pastoral presence and a person in the room with whom they had some sort of a relationship. It also plays out then, from there moving forward, when this person says they've had a bad day because of this experience. I can Facebook message them or I can post, and then I can also take it a little more personally in a text message and say, 'Hey, you've been on my mind. If you need anything, you know you can always call.'"