AP PHOTO/PAT SULLIVAN
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appears to audiences who are tuning in from home — a group numbering more than 138,000. They are
absorbing Osteen’s “Night of Hope,”
a gathering of evangelical Christians
aimed at strengthening people’s
commitment to Christ, swaying non-believers and spreading
Osteen’s message of self-improvement through Christianity.
Madding’s iPad displays a ceaseless stream of comments from
those taking part from their homes
around the world — people grappling with illness, joblessness,
loneliness, despair and suicidal
thoughts; people seeking comfort,
prayer and fellowship. These participants are not inside the stadium,
HUFFINGTON
06.09.13
but in an expanded gathering that
connects the experience of those
here in the flesh with those online.
Over the course of this night,
Osteen’s team of social media consultants confronts the formidable
task of making that synergy happen. They struggle to keep up with
the relentless flood of digital interaction. In life, prayers may or may
not be realized. But in the social
media realm of the Night of Hope,
all prayers must be answered.
Osteen’s staff has instructed online congregants to post prayers to
his website or phone prayers to a
1-800 number. They’ve also provided an email address, [email protected], assuring digital participants that the church has prayer
partners on hand who will field
their missives and pray for them.
Osteen (left)
leads his
congregation
in prayer for
the victims of
last month’s
Indian Ocean
tsunami on
Jan. 9, 2005,
in Houston.