What more relevant way to encourage and shepherd your flock than via fan page? Lots of these exist on Facebook. They are created either by members of their church or by the pastor himself masquerading as a member of the church.

Since there isn’t a Facebook fan page category for pastors, the fanatic-inspiring pastor is sometimes categorized as a “musician.” No one raises an eyebrow. Fan page? Sure. Musician? Why not? He’s a man of God!

Some of these pages have tens of thousands of fans. Said fans use the page to leave copious messages and pressing questions that the pastor could never respond to due to his mortaldom. But maybe they don’t see him as a mere mortal. Maybe once he’s fan-page-worthy he’s approaching the realm of exalted figurehead. This sort of mindset turns the pastor into an untouchable celebrity rather than a friend and companion in seeking God. Hi, conflict of interests.