wfn.org | ACNS - Ancient chapel launches online prayer service

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

ACNS 3114 - SCOTLAND - 6 September 2002

Ancient chapel launches online prayer service

[The Scottish Episcopal Church] One of Scotland's oldest and most mysterious
churches today jumped into the 21st century by launching an online prayer
service. Rosslyn Chapel, based just outside Edinburgh, has become the
country's first church to take e-prayer requests over the Internet.

Scores of people from as far afield as the USA have already logged on to
leave messages on the virtual prayer board during its trial run. The
Scottish Episcopal chapel has promised to keep specific requests
confidential. But areas covered so far have ranged from exam results to
relationships, from job interviews to crises of faith. The service is
available through the Scottish Episcopal Church's main website:
www.scottishepiscopal.com.

People type their message into an online form and send it straight to
Rosslyn's prayer team with the click of a button. The anonymous request
comes through as an email, without any mention of the sender's identity or
address.

At noon every weekday, the prayer requests are printed off and offered to
God in the chapel by a member of the congregation. The online service is a
virtual extension of a physical prayer book kept at the back of the historic
church. Hundreds of people visit Rosslyn Chapel every week and write their
prayer requests into the book.

"These e-prayers are allowing us to build a long-distance worshipping
community," said the Revd Michael Fass, priest in charge of Rosslyn Chapel.
"They are connecting people to the church that wouldn't be connected in any
other way," he added. "We live increasingly disconnected lives. If this is a
way that we can connect people to a church, then that must be a good idea.

"Whether people are in the church or thousands of miles away down the other
end of a phone line, our ministry is to offer up their prayers to God." Mr
Fass said that people were particularly attracted by the anonymity of the
service.

Prayer has always been central to Rosslyn Chapel since it was founded in
around 1446 as the Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew. Its founder, Sir William
St Clair, set up a team of priests to pray for himself, his family and his
comrades in arms.

Rosslyn Chapel has also often been associated with mystery. In recent years,
Scottish crime novelist, Ian Rankin, used the chapel's Prentice Pillar as a
hiding place for a clue in his book, The Falls.

The chapel has become the focus of countless myths, legends, and conspiracy
theories, involving everyone from the Knights Templar to the Freemasons. But
the virtual prayer board is a reflection of the mainstream Christian worship
that has always been at the heart of the chapel since its foundation.

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