Spiritual Life
A6
Thursday, August 12, 2021
SPIRITUAL LIFE HIGHLIGHTS
BYU Education Week,
Aug. 16-20, will off er classes
for all ages
LA GRANDE STAKE — The
La Grande Stake of the Church of
Jesus Chris of Latter-day Saints
will hold ward conferences for the
Enterprise and John Day wards
on Sunday Aug. 15. High Council
members will be speaking in
other area wards on Elder Ras-
band’s April Conference talk
titled “Behold! I Am a God of
Miracles.”
BYU Education Week is
Aug. 16-20, with hundreds of
SUBMISSIONS
Churches and faith-based groups are encouraged to submit Highlights for the
Spiritual Life page by 4 p.m. Tuesday for publication Thursday. Submit by email
to news@lagrandeobserver.com (with Highlights in the subject line).
classes for youth and adults.
Elder Uchtdorf will be the devo-
tional speaker on Aug. 17 and
his remarks will be broadcast on
the BYU affi liated stations. Visit
https://educationweek.byu.edu/
about or call 801-422-8925 for
more information.
The “Come, Follow Me”
lesson for the week of Aug. 16 is
based on Doctrine & Covenants
sections 89-92 and includes the
Word of Wisdom (Section 89),
which is a law of health for the
physical and spiritual benefi t of
God’s children. Called “a prin-
ciple with promise” (verse 3), it
includes instructions about what
foods are good for us and those
substances to avoid.
Recording of Episcopal
service available on
Facebook
Sunday worship at Zion
Lutheran off ers Communion
and fellowship
LA GRANDE — St. Peter’s
Episcopal Church in La Grande
will meet for worship at 11 a.m.
on Sunday, Aug. 15. The ser-
vice will include Holy Commu-
nion. Masks are again required,
and social distancing will be
observed.
The service will be recorded,
and that video will be posted to
the church’s Facebook page and
emailed to members sometime
Aug. 15.
LA GRANDE — The Sunday
morning service at La Grande’s
Zion Lutheran Church begins at
9 a.m. Aug. 15 and will include
Holy Communion. A time of
fellowship follows the service.
Masks are recommended.
The service will be streamed
live to YouTube, and the link
for that stream will be posted to
Zion’s Facebook page and website
on Aug. 14.
— The Observer
STORAGE BUILDINGS
Some praise, some doubts as
Facebook rolls out prayer tool A little bit more room
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Locally owned and operated
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By HOLLY MEYER
and DAVID CRARY
Associated Press
Facebook already asks
for your thoughts. Now it
wants your prayers.
The social media giant
has rolled out a new prayer
request feature, a tool
embraced by some reli-
gious leaders as a cut-
ting-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 chal-
lenges 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 U.S. in December
as part of an ongoing eff ort
to support faith communi-
ties, according to a state-
ment attributed to a com-
pany spokesperson.
“During the COVID-19
pandemic we’ve seen many
faith and spirituality com-
munities using our ser-
vices to connect, so we’re
starting to explore new
tools to support them,” it
said.
The Rev. Robert Jeff ress
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 con-
tinue 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 eff ort like this
that encourages people to
turn to the one true God in
our time of need.”
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Facebook via The Associated Press
This image provided by Facebook in August 2021 shows a simulation
of the social media company’s prayer request feature. The tool has
been 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.
Facebook uses the informa-
tion it gathers in a variety
of ways, including to per-
sonalize 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 Bruns-
wick, Ohio, said via email
that on one hand, he sees
the new feature as a posi-
tive affi rmation of people’s
need for an “authentic com-
munity” of prayer, support
and worship.
But “even while this is a
‘good thing,’ it is not nec-
essary 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 sur-
rounding the sharing of
deeply personal traumas.
“Is it wise to post every-
thing about everyone for
the whole world to see?”
he said. “On a good day
we would all be refl ective
and make wise choices.
When we are under stress
or distress or in a diffi cult
moment, it’s almost too
easy to reach out on Face-
book to everyone.”
Jacki King, the minister
to women at Second Bap-
tist Conway, a Southern
Baptist congregation in
Conway, Arkansas, sees a
benefi t for people who are
isolated amid the pandemic
and struggling with mental
health, fi nances 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.”
Rev. Thomas McKenzie,
who leads Church of the
Redeemer, an Anglican
congregation in Nash-
ville, Tennessee, said he
wanted to hate the fea-
ture — he views Facebook
as willing to exploit any-
thing for money, even peo-
ple’s faith. But he thinks
it could be encouraging
to those willing to use it:
“Facebook’s evil motiva-
tions might have actually
provided a tool that can be
for good.”
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Cove United
Methodist Church
1708 Jasper St., Cove, OR
North Powder
United
Methodist Church
390 E. St., North Powder, OR
JOIN US... Catch the Spirit!
First Christian
Church
(Disciples of Christ)
Worship
10:00 a.m.
~Join us at The Lord’s Table~
SUMMERVILLE
BAPTIST CHURCH
LA GRANDE UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH
A church for your whole family
Visit us at summervillebaptistchurch.org
The Place
62848 Philynda Loop in Island City
901 Penn Avenue 963-2623 “We are called to Serve”
lgdisciples@gmail.com
Worship: 9:00 a.m. Cove
Worship: 10:00 a.m. N. Powder
Sunday Services:
Sunday School & Adult Bible Classes
9:45AM
Children’s Church & Worship Service
11:00AM
Family Worship Service
6:00PM
Wednesday:
Prayer Mtg, Children’s Bible Club, Youth
Group 7:00PM
GRACE COMMUNITY
LUTHERAN CHURCH
Sunday School for all ages - 9:00 am
Sunday Worship 10:00 am
Phone: 541-568-4230
grace.lutherancove@gmail.com
www.lagrandeumc.org
www.imblercc@gmail.com
Sunday Services
9:00 a.m.
10:00 a.m.
Sunday School
Worship Service
La Grande Seventh-day
A Place where hope is found in Jesus
Join us in Fellowship & Worship
Saturday all age classes 9:30 am
Saturday Worship 11:00 am
1612 4th Street – 963-2498
For service information go to
440 Ruckman, Imbler 534-2201
Adventist Church
“OPEN HEARTS, OPEN MINDS, OPEN DOORS”
Pastor Taylor Gould
Imbler
Christian
Church
2702 Adams Avenue, La Grande
963-4018
109 18th Street • 963-3402
Sunday School 9:15 a.m.
Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m.
lagrandeor.adventistchurch.org
Learning for Today and Eternity
Little Friends
Christian Preschool/Childcare 963-6390
La Grande Adventist Christian School
K-8th Grade 963-6203
FIRST LANDMARK
MISSIONARY BAPTIST
CHURCH
1812 1st St. La Grande
Pastor Dave Tierce • 541-605-0215
We use the King James Version Bible
Sunday School - 10:00 am
Worship 11:00 am
Sunday Evening Bible Study - 3:00 pm (Effective June 10)
Wednesday Evening - 6:30 pm
“Where you can find TRUTH according to the scriptures”
www.flmbclagrande.com
Services
This
Week