It’s not been a good few months for the British royal family. Less-than-royally-dressed photos of Prince Harry and a female companion and a sun-bathing Duchess of Cambridge have put the royals in a rather embarrassing situation. Now, I’m not one to throw pity parties for the ridiculously rich and needlessly famous—that’s not a dig at the royals but at the “culture of celebrity” in Western society—but these are real people who, I am sure, are still capable of feeling shame, regret, and an overwhelming sense of having been violated.
To me, this all begs the question:
In a society saturated with cameras and camera-equipped devices, how long will it be until there’s no privacy left?
Just this evening, I saw this article about wearable cameras that photograph your entire life … and anyone unlucky enough to cross your path. Add to all of this the increasing use of drones by the US government and we might very well be under constant surveillance.
Privacy in the Church
With the rapid loss of privacy in our society, I have to ask if there is a place for privacy in the Church?
Granted that most places of worship are considered to be public places, but I don’t think that I’m the only one who looks at a church sanctuary as more of a private place than Wal-Mart.
Of course, you may be wondering why that matters:
“Why do we need privacy in worship? We’re not ashamed of it.”
That’s a very good point, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t deserve privacy. Let me provide you with my classic example: the camera guy at church camp.
I don’t know about you, but I went to church camp every summer during my junior high and high school years. At my camp, the video guy always seemed to find me during the worship/altar time. Inevitably, I would be praying intensely, which does not make for the most attractive facial expression. There I would be, every night, in the highlight reel, with an incredibly unfortunate face. Major media team fail, in my opinion.
I felt really embarrassed by this, but it wasn’t a huge deal. But then again, privacy loss never starts out in big, neon ways. It’s very subtle.
The Church needs to be a safe place where hurting people can get help without fearing any undo exposure or humiliation. The Church needs to be a private place where the saint can worship in peace, enjoying a brief respite from the ever-watchful eye of the digital camera.
My church, I’m proud to say, offers a class for those dealing with addiction. However, rather than force these people to trudge through the whole church, we’ve given them a room with an exterior door so that they may enter the building far from prying eyes.
What should the Church do to promote the protection—and maybe the restoration—of privacy?
What does your church do to help protect the privacy of those who attend?
[Top image via Justin Shearer]
April says
One of the things I do, since I am the video person, is that I turn off the recording, effectively ending the service for those watching live or later, right after the prayer before the alter call/invitation. That way, the people that need to pray at the alter, go forward and pray with the pastor, or go to the pastor to make a decision have the privacy to do so.
Phil Schneider says
That’s great, April. I think church’s need to encourage “public displays” like coming to the altar, but “public” needs to be strictly defined—as you have done—as those gathered together to worship. Thanks for the comment!
Darryl Schoeman says
Hey Phil.
This is a great post and so very pertinent. I think your question is exceptionally pointed in that it alludes to privacy without saying get rid of the camera guy.
The answer for me is not to get rid of the photos and videos as these are so essential to communicating what the Church is doing. People need to see the Church giving expression to the Gospel and their values and vision. But the Church must ensure that whoever is capturing these digital memories, do so with integrity and compassion. It is such an important function, that one does not want to simply give to any trigger happy person.
But the reality though is that this can only be exercised from a “corporate” Church perspective. Nothing stops trigger happy folks of recording something “inappropriate” and then posting it to the world. The only solution I can come up with is to “repeatedly” educate people about posting stuff to the web.
It is good that you pointed this out and raised the topic.
Phil Schneider says
Great point, Darryl, about the difference between the corporate issue, which I was tackling, and the individual abuses of privacy. And I think that you’re solution to repeatedly educate our people is an excellent point.
I do wonder if there is a step beyond educate, but that might take us into that murky sea of church discipline, accountability, and, again, the right of the worshipper to his/her privacy.
Great comment! Thanks for sharing.