Something we’ve been talking about in my latest graduate class is how Christians can minister in the digital world.  Part of our discussion has focused on how faith communities form and function online.  This week’s Web 2.0 Weekly app would fit right in with that discussion.

Today, we are taking a look at People2Pray.  People2Pray is a Web 2.0 that provides users with a way to keep track of their own prayer requests, but to also connect them in prayer with Christians around the world.  People2Pray’s interface is very well-thought out, providing the user with easy access to their prior prayer requests, connections with friends and prayer communities, and search the prayer requests of others.  The search options deserve some attention on their own.  In addition to being able to search by keyword, you can also search via a handy tag cloud.  The tag cloud provides a quick way to visually determine which types of prayer requests are more frequent and easy access to them.

Adding a prayer request is as simple as filling in the easy-to-use form.  The user is given the option to choose to make their request accessible only to themselves or their friends and communities, or to make it public for all.  The user can also choose to post their request anonymously.  Public requests can have tags associated with them.  Also, People2Pray gives users the ability to comment on others’ prayer requests as a way to provide encouragement.

Strengths:

• Easy-to-use
• Privacy options allow even delicate prayer requests to be shared
• Each request has an RSS feed for comments, allowing you to subscribe to it in your RSS aggregator to be notified of new comments
• Opportunity to connect with the global Body of Christ in prayer
• Record of prayer requests shows how God has been at work in your life

Weaknesses:

• People2Pray is currently in beta, meaning the feature set may not be complete and that the service may undergo significant change or closure
• Denomination options are missing in the user profile
• Unable to tag private or community prayer requests

People2Pray is a free service, but you are required to create a user account to make use of it.  There are no ads, however donations are encouraged.  You will need an Internet-connected computer with a modern Web browser to use People2Pray.