Feature I Dissertation

Examining the Facebook effect

In a new monthly series we ask SISTAD* students to tell us about their degree dissertations. Major Keira Wood’s dissertation for her BA (Honours) in Pastoral Care with Psychology was called: ‘How do aspects of the Facebook effect impact on pastoral care practice?’

THE opening lines of Charles Dickens’ A Tale Of Two Cities are: ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness.’ This statement, describing 18th-century France, could be applied to our 21stcentury online, virtual world. The rapid developments in social media are profoundly changing the way we communicate, interact and live. When choosing a research subject for my dissertation it was with conversations with officer colleagues ringing in my ears about the complexities and challenges of social media for spiritual leaders. How do we navigate the sometimes murky waters of Facebook?

My research explored how Facebook is impacting pastoral care practice. David Kirkpatrick, author of The Facebook Effect, says the effect is ‘when the service puts people in touch with each other… about a common experience, interest, problem or cause… on a small or large scale – from a group of two or three friends or a family, to millions’.

The definition of pastoral care I used combined the four basic pastoral activities of healing, sustaining, reconciling and guiding within what Kate Litchfield calls the ‘messy reality of people’s lives’, while pastoring in a faith community to facilitate spiritual growth and development. I am not the only officer who has had to deal with issues relating to social media, personally or within corps life, so I was keen to discover whether there are benefits for pastoral care as well as how to negotiate the pitfalls.

The research included a psychological approach, linking it with human behaviour and practice in the light of our virtual, digital society – the developing field of cyberpsychology – and also social psychology and behavioural psychology, particularly recognising that personality and motivation are significant factors.

Wide reading highlighted three common themes – community, connection and communication – so I decided to base my research on these areas and explore whether connecting and communicating with people in an online community impacts pastoral care practice in a corps.

These key areas informed the questions for a questionnaire that was used to collect simple, generalised data. Other methods, such as interviews, were then employed, and themes from the experiences of corps members were identified.

COMMUNITY The data highlighted that Salvationists valued being part of an online spiritual community – whether it was the wider corps fellowship or a smaller group, such as a band fellowship – and felt cared for as part of that community.

This aspect of the Facebook effect impacts pastoral care within corps life because the spiritual community continues beyond Sunday and enables support to take place. However, the pitfalls of this online community were also evident, with broken relationships, negative and critical comments causing hurt within the church community and the lack of face-to-face contact.

CONNECTION Being connected to that community was highly significant. In particular, the connection to an immediate, prayerful and empathetic community in the form of a support system was valued. The Facebook effect identified by Kirkpatrick specifically refers to putting people in touch with each other about a common experience or problem. This is what seems to happen in the context of a corps. between peers than between pastors and congregations. The role of the officer on Facebook appears to be secondary to the support system provided by the individual’s online peer community. The Army’s emphasis on the priesthood of all believers fits with the widely accepted theology and practice of pastoral care, and this research emphasised the role of everyone in the pastoral care of a corps. In addition, the biblical descriptions of good communication apply online: ‘Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger’ (James 1:19 New American Standard Bible) and ‘rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep’ (Romans 12:15 NASB). These principles sum up good pastoral care communication at all times, and also support the empathy and support system of the Facebook effect highlighted by this research.

The limited study concluded that connecting and communicating with people in an online community such as Facebook is helpful for corps officers and members to an extent but, rather obviously, only as a complement to an already established pastoral relationship and practice in the real world.

It recognised too that there are many more areas to research in depth. In this digital age of wisdom, foolishness, belief and incredulity there remains the great and growing challenge of integrating social media, pastoral care practice and Salvation Army corps life.

*SISTAD is the territory’s School for In-Service Training and Development, which presents courses for officers and employees; visit salvationarmy.org.uk/ SISTAD for details

Being all we are called to be Colonels Lee and Debbie Graves talk to Lieut-Colonel Jonathan Roberts about themselves and their roles, and share their thoughts about the territory

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AND FAMILY? Lee: I grew up in a Christian home. My father was from the United Church of Canada and my mother was a Baptist, and we would, as a young family, move between both of those denominational traditions. However, we also had a singing group as a family and we would travel from church to church in the evenings and at weekends. When I was nine or ten we were invited to The Salvation Army. We sang frequently at many corps and social service centres, and eventually the Army became our home church. Debbie: I am a fourth-generation Salvationist: my great-grandparents were in Scotland around the time of Booth. My grandmother was from Edinburgh, my grandfather from Glasgow and my other grandparents were from England. They were also Salvationists and emigrated to Canada in the early 1900s. We have four children – three of whom are married – and we have ten grandchildren. Our oldest, our son, lives in Alberta, but our daughters are all in or around the Toronto area.

WHAT APPOINTMENTS HAVE YOU HELD PREVIOUSLY? Lee: Before coming to the UK last year I was the Chief Secretary in the Canada and Bermuda Territory for almost two years and Debbie was the Territorial Secretary for Women’s Ministries. We began our officership in corps appointments, then in divisional youth work, then back into corps, then back on to DHQ in programme roles and eventually as divisional leaders. Later I became the Secretary for Business Administration at THQ in Canada before becoming the Chief Secretary. Debbie: I did most of what Lee did, although I was an executive director of a parent-and-child resource centre while he was at DHQ, before our divisional leadership roles. Then, when he was the Secretary for Business Administration, I was the Integrated Mission Secretary and took on the women’s ministries role as well when he came into the Chief Secretary’s office.

HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU HEARD YOU WERE COMING TO THE UK? Lee: The phone call came out of the blue and there was a sense of shock initially! But we were very pleased to think that we would come to the UKI Territory and we’re really quite honoured – privileged – to be here. Debbie: I used the word surreal. I had never used the word before but it seemed to fit! Although it was exciting, my initial thought was, ‘O my goodness, can I actually do that?’ But the Lord has a way of working things out. Lee: It was a strange feeling when we came here, leaving an environment where we knew everybody and arriving in a territory where we didn’t know anybody. But in a short period of time

we started to build some relationships and we look forward to connecting on a more personal level with people and enjoying that.

HOW WOULD YOU SAY THE UKI TERRITORY DIFFERS FROM CANADA AND BERMUDA? Lee: Here in the UK we have centralised activity administered from THQ that is new to us; for example, the Homelessness Services and Older People’s Services. We come from a reality that did not operate programme or service delivery directly from THQ; it would all be field related. And the Canada and Bermuda structure means responsibilities and allocated resources would be as close to the ground as possible, with all the appropriate accountabilities.

In Canada, before 1992, everything was centralised, then it was released. The question is always: How do we maximise the opportunity of release for the front line so they can be about the main thing, which is mission? That’s always the challenge.

WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF THE UKI TERRITORY? Debbie: We’ve been to a few places: Edinburgh, for the territorial congress; divisional leaders retreats in the East Midlands, Yorkshire South with Humber and Devon and Cornwall; Poole for the Youth Makes Music concert and Boscombe for the installation of the

Southern divisional leaders. There are a lot of really exciting things that we keep hearing about – outward-focused things, such as new expressions – but I don’t know that we share them enough for the wider territory to know what’s happening. Lee: On the most hopeful side of things there seems to be a shared spirit of optimism, with the thought of possibility and opportunity for Kingdom expansion and sharing the faith. I would suggest that the Army world still looks to the UKI Territory, the homeland of The Salvation Army, as an indicator of how things are for the Army world. From that perspective I would say that we do have much to celebrate and to share. When we hear about The Salvation Army still engaging in pub ministry and open-air meetings, as well as fresh expressions, quality corps ministry and transformational social work, this is to be celebrated.

We’re looking at ways to move into the gaps, which is really what the Army ought to be doing in communities. Finding the way to do this in the territory is so exciting.

We’re continuing to look at ways to be innovative and creative around mission accomplishment, and be willing to take risks. I’m really quite impressed by that. I would say to the Army world that this territory is doing really well because The Salvation Army continues to be The Salvation Army God has called it to be. It is a great territory – I hope people know that. WHAT DO YOUR RESPECTIVE ROLES INVOLVE? Lee: As Chief Secretary I have the privilege of working closely with the Territorial Commander, to journey alongside in a way that serves well and faithfully, and to support him in fulfilling the mandate, which has as its priority the expansion of the Kingdom. That’s first and foremost.

It’s also about making sure that all the elements of the accountability movement around governance, finance, child protection and impact measurement are lived out at every level of the organisation. The Chief Secretary must model that and be the very careful observer and holder of organisational policy.

I would say also that the Chief Secretary must constantly remind the territory of the TIDE strategy: transformation, integration, discipleship and effectiveness. I would emphasise the need to allow each other a place in partnership and to see each other as enablers of the mission. There’s this beautiful opportunity to recognise that together we’re stronger and better, and can move this organisation forward. Debbie: I’m working with Commissioner Gill Cotterill, the Territorial Leader for Leader Development, to understand all the leader development that’s happening across the territory. People are doing lots of good things but often on their own, so the question is: How do we bring these together to be more effective and to offer more opportunities for more people?

THIS YEAR THE TERRITORY IS FOCUSING ON EFFECTIVENESS. WHAT DO YOU UNDERSTAND BY THAT? Lee: I would describe it in terms of being released for mission – and then understanding that, in that release, it’s how we live like Jesus every day in community. I think it ought to be viewed in terms of people coming to faith, in our soldier making, our disciple making, our officer making and how lives are being transformed through every avenue of Salvation Army service.

I would also want to remind colleagues at THQ that we are about our service to the wider territory. We need to make sure that we understand that the main reason we come to this building is to support the people who are out there doing the ministry. Debbie: We would hope for stories of people’s lives being transformed. The more we share these the more people get excited and the more the work blossoms.

We would also hope for an increase in our cadet enrolment. I think there are people out there who are being called but perhaps there are too many things getting in the way of answering that call. Lee: We should see our Army growing. It’s not just about numbers, that’s one measurement, but we should see it growing in its desire to become all that Jesus has called and raised us up to be.