Many viewed the pandemic as just another interruption to their most essential means of discipleship —in-person worship — and planned for communications to return to prepandemic methods after sheltering-in-place mandates ended.

However, as the pandemic receded, churches discovered unexpected benefits to their newly adopted tech.

Some even saw the forced change as an opportunity to reimagine church. They brainstormed how to ​​enhance livestream service quality and deepen connections with congregants through online platforms.

But others have cautioned against too much tech adoption.

It could encourage congregants to depend on leaders to handle communication and outreach tasks.

Or encourage leaders to view their churches as consumer "products," focusing on analytics, charts, and figures rather than the fundamental functions of pastoral ministry.

Virtual church?

A study on the State of Church Tech 2024 conducted by Pushpay — a fast-growing software as a service company in the faith sector — reveals a somewhat predicted, albeit still surprising, change in American church attendance.

Our desire to return to a pre-COVID style church has diminished.

The study claims the desire to return to in-person-only ministry is now waning, driving enthusiasm for church tech solutions.

In 2024, just 10 percent of churches said they were sticking to in-person-only services, while a whopping 90 percent are either keeping or enacting a hybrid model (in-person and online).

In last year's report, nearly three out of 10 leaders said they might move back to in-person-only services, signaling a possible shift away from a hybrid. But in 2024, that figure (those returning to in-person-only ministry) fell by 21 percent.

According to the report, less than one percent of churches are currently fully digital, but some pastors are concerned this number will rapidly grow in the next few years.

Back in 2021, after churches were returning to a "new" normal, assistant professor and pastor Jared Wilson tweeted, "Virtual church isn't church."

"When I was pastoring, there was a reason I regularly visited shut-ins and nursing homes rather than just emailing them or sending them a newsletter. Embodiment matters," Wilson added.

"Biblically speaking, it is even necessary."

Wilson told MinistryWatch that virtual church also obstructs genuine community, membership and pastoral care.

It transforms into an "individualized consumer product" immersed in a "pragmatism antithetical to the spiritual concerns of the New Testament vision."

But PushPay Chief Technology Officer Aaron Senneff told MinistryWatch that he rarely encounters someone advocating leaving in-person ministry to go entirely virtual.

Senneff recognizes that in-person ministry is effective but often leaves out alums, shut-ins, and online churchgoers "who won't be reached without a digital presence," like livestreaming services on the church's app or website.

Tackling the problem of anonymity

Senneff said one of his priorities is to solve the fundamental challenges of anonymity, which have been a growing issue since the pandemic.

It's too easy to walk in and out of church without ever connecting with someone.

But this happens online, too, he said. "Many churches have thousands of people watching but have no idea who they are. We want to help large churches operate in a small way."

It is possible to use technology to foster meaningful connections, he said.

Digital footprints, such as attendance and volunteering, indicate engagement.

Senneff advocates for a symbiotic relationship between technology and staff, where digital systems complement rather than replace human interaction.

These systems can help identify individuals in need and assemble church data into information leadership can use.

For example, if data indicated that a person stopped tithing after a period of consistent giving, leaders might deduce he or she could be experiencing family or financial distress and reach out.

Another example may be looking for indicators of volunteer burnout. Staff could note how often someone signs up to serve and consider giving them a break before risking burnout.

In response, Wilson agreed that digital methods can tell us some important things, but not "the most" important things.

These methods threaten to replace substantive relationships among members, said Wilson, and the pastor-member connection bound up in the New Testament vision for the local church.

"The Bible's primary concern about church behaviors and patterns are not quantifiable metrics but rather the fruit of the Spirit, maturation in Christ through discipleship and so on," he said.

"Those are the most important ‘metrics,' and they are not things easily discernible by digital footprints.

"They require actual relationships, actually engaged pastors and other leaders (not merely digital observers or programmers), and actual intentionality to disciple, not merely to ‘resource.'"

He said the solution to anonymity lies in pastors shepherding the flock, ensuring every member receives relational care, even in larger churches.

"If the COVID experience taught us anything, it's that virtual connection can be a helpful tool, but it absolutely is no replacement for the meaningful connection of in-person relationships," said Wilson.

"Life-on-life community is the only solution to the problem of anonymity."

Responsibility key

Editorial director for 9Marks Jonathan Leeman believes tech tools can be used well or poorly, like any technology.

"Responsible pastors will use those tools to prevent people from falling through the cracks," he told MinistryWatch.

"It's easy to miss or forget people, especially as a church grows."

He said pastors can regularly remind a congregation of the responsibility to help one another follow Jesus and build one another up in the faith.

"Helping other Christians follow Jesus is what it means to follow Jesus. This is not just the job for pastors but for every Christian. It's Christianity 101."

Leeman suggested pastors prioritise discipleship and clear expectations for membership, practice church discipline, and increase the number of elders for better care.

Consolidating services promotes accountability and community, avoiding anonymity issues.

As for PushPay CTO Senneff, he said in a time when IT and ministry are starting to intermix, he would like to see churches shift their views of tech's role in the church.

"I would love to see churches consolidate tech tools and better use them to further the kingdom," Senneff said.

"For them to think about improving as a whole to strongly connect with others."

• Article published in Religion Unplugged
• Jessica Eturralde is a military wife of 18 years and mother of three who serves as a freelance writer, TV host, and filmmaker.

The November 2022 survey of over 11,000 US adults focused on how many were engaging in online worship and how they felt about the experience.

Post-pandemic, the online option is still a popular choice. While most find it satisfactory, they said they prefer an in-person experience at church.

Many said they felt less connected to other worshippers when online.

Connection with others

About two-thirds of regular in-person churchgoers said that they felt "quite a bit" or "a great deal" of connection with others attending the same service.

In contrast, just over a quarter (28 percent) of regular virtual viewers reported the same sense of connection with in-person worshippers when they watch online or on TV.

Fifty-one percent of people who attend online services said they generally watched the services alone; most don't join in the singing or praying when they watched online.

They usually do when they attend in person, they said.

Convenience is key

Most online worshippers told Pew they prefer the online services because they are convenient rather than for reasons of personal safety.

There are ethnic differences at play with that finding, however. Pew says Black congregation members were more likely to join online services - owing partly to continuing concerns about Covid, which has disproportionately affected Black communities.

Seventeen per cent continued to join online and in person. Most said they were satisfied with online services.

"Broadly speaking, the survey finds that most Americans who watch religious services on screens are happy with them.

"Two-thirds of US adults who regularly stream religious services online or watch them on TV say they are either ‘extremely satisfied' or ‘very satisfied' with the services they see," the researchers say.

Interestingly, those who both watched services online and attended church in person were more likely to follow virtual services from a different church from the one they usually attended.

Sermons and music

About two thirds of respondents said they were satisfied with the sermons they hear during virtual services. In addition, just over half reported being highly satisfied with the music at worship services they join online or watch on TV.

In comparison, those attending services in person seem to be getting more out of the experience. Seventy-four percent say they feel extremely or very satisfied with the sermons; 69 percent say they are satisfied with the music.

Religious technology

The survey also asked about "religious technology", such as prayer or Bible apps.

Members of historically Black Protestant churches (37 per cent), as well as Evangelical Protestants (28 per cent), were the most likely to engage at least weekly in technology for religious purposes.

They use apps for prayer or scripture and participating in online study groups.

Key findings show:

30 percent of US adults say they go online to search for information about religion.

21 percent use apps or websites to help them read the Bible or other religious scriptures.

15 percent listen to religion-focused podcasts.

14 percent use apps or websites to help or remind them to pray.

Source

• Church Times
• Pew Research

I spoke those words in 2009, in a casual conversation with other inclusive ministry leaders about what it might look like for churches to be truly accessible to disabled people.

I wasn't opposed to online church at the time. I simply couldn't imagine how to make it work.

The ideal model, we were convinced, would be a hybrid church, building online communities linked with traditional in-person churches, so attendance could be fluid and connections built-in ways that included people of all ages, abilities and availability to be present in the same space as the church building.

Well-equipped megachurches with large budgets already had the technical abilities to stream services and host online discussion groups.

Most churches were and still are small and faithful, though, with resources more limited.

To implement a hybrid model, we knew we would need a system of training, funding and support.

We lacked all three.

But even if we had the money, time and expertise to do it all, we would need buy-in.

We needed leaders to believe disabled people deserved to be fully included in the church, as people like anyone else rather than as service projects to pity, perpetual children to patronize, or pets to pat on the head.

At that time, every American church with a robust inclusive ministry had one thing in common: The pastor had a child or a grandchild diagnosed with a disability.

Churches didn't change to become welcoming unless leaders loved one specific disabled person first. I didn't know what it would take for more churches to say yes to even considering inclusive online services.

A decade later, COVID-19 proved to be the catalyst for such change.

Churches began shifting to online models en masse, to keep people safe from a deadly virus.

As weeks passed and we could see that this new normal wasn't leaving anytime soon, church leaders began moving their faith communities online.

Disabled people who had begged for more accessible models of ministry, who had been told online church wasn't possible, watched as their requested accommodations became realities.

While we were excited to finally be able to engage with our churches through new programs, our pain was undeniable.

Jesus tells a parable, recorded in Luke 15 and Matthew 18, known as the parable of the lost sheep.

In it, a shepherd has 100 sheep and one goes missing. The good shepherd goes after the one lost sheep and brings it back to the other 99 with a spirit of joy and celebration. But is that a cute story we read like pure fiction, or do we believe it?

Consider, for a moment, that the story is one disabled person and 99 abled people, and instead of a field, the setting is a church.

When one needed to be able to participate in the community of believers from home or a hospital using technology, we in the church stuck with the 99.

Those virtual church options that were called impossible for the one became possible when COVID-19 safety measures, like not meeting in person, were necessary for the remaining 99 as well.

The accommodation was never impossible for the one.

We made a choice that the 99 abled people were worthy of such an option becoming available, which revealed what we believed about the one disabled person: They alone were not worthy, not in how church worked prior to the pandemic.

Now, as churches reopen their in-person services, the inclusive hybrid model can finally work, right?

Yes, but some people don't want it that way.

Recently, Tish Harrison Warren, a priest in the conservative sect of Anglican churches and an opinion writer for The New York Times, argued for the end of online church, even though she acknowledged the practice would re-marginalize some members who have been included by online worship connection.

As for whether or not online church should be an option, it already is and it's not going away.

The logistics of Communion practices, for example, are worthy of consideration and planning, but let's consider and plan those.

Should online church happen?

No matter your answer, it is happening.

This debate extends to how we classify relationships as well; is a person you only know online a friend, or does friendship require physical proximity?

Communal embodied experiences within friendships or worship don't require physical proximity.

Conversely, I have been physically present in church services without anything being embodied beyond the most superficial appearance.

My personal preference will always include in-person engagement with the people I call my church, usually in the building we also call church.

I understand other people have their own preferences, and I see no benefit in weighing whose disabilities or circumstances justify each choice.

As with other accommodations for disabled people, abled people will benefit as well: Shift workers and single parents and displaced individuals, be it by choice or necessity, can all benefit from worship models including online possibilities.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 26% of adults are disabled.

One in 10 adults age 18 and older — and double that for those 65 and older — have a disability that impacts one or more areas of functioning enough to require support from others.

We know COVID-19 disproportionately harms people with medical vulnerabilities, and some people who need to stay home to avoid COVID also stay home for part or all of flu season, in addition to hospitalizations, surgeries, sleep disorders and other circumstances preventing church attendance.

The most important fact we keep overlooking in these debates, though, is that disabled people are more likely to have those conditions that make COVID-19 the riskiest: three times more likely to have heart disease, twice as likely to have diabetes and the most likely to be immunodeficient by nature or due to medications.

Relatedly, disabled people experience higher rates of poverty, less stable employment and lower rates of both driving and having access to a vehicle to drive than abled people do — all of which hinder church attendance as well.

Given those statistics, we aren't talking about one lost sheep but more like 10 or 20 lost out of every 100.

With online church, disabled people — including me and my family — were welcomed to church in more ways and more often than ever before.

Let's keep that up rather than shouting, "Hey, Jesus, we're gonna take that one you brought back and throw them to the elements and predators! We're going back to the way it was."

We have the framework in place to continue to welcome disabled people who worship from home, even as in-person services become safer.

The choice is easy. Keep welcoming us.

• Shannon Dingle is a Christian writer and activist.
• First published in RNS. Republished with permission. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily represent those of Religion News Service.

Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge said the innovation was sparked by the continued interest in online Masses. This is despite the easing of COVID-19 restrictions allowing parishioners to attend churches in person.

"We've always thought of a Catholic parish as something that has a geographic base around a church and perhaps a school, but the past two years have made us think about life differently," Archbishop Coleridge said.

"We know that some of our parishioners who began to watch Masses by livestream early last year are still watching and may not be able to make it to a physical parish. So, we decided that we would come to them by forming a dedicated online parish community with a priest who will engage with them regularly."

Brisbane's first online parish priest is Fr Peter Brannelly. He will be a regular face on the archdiocese's social media platforms engaging viewers across southeast Queensland and beyond.

Fr Brannelly added the online ministry to his role as parish priest of Caloundra.

"I was delighted to assist in this role because we know how online interaction has grown during the pandemic," Fr Brannelly said.

"We have been able to connect with Catholics in ways that we hadn't thought of before Covid came into our lives.

While many Catholic dioceses and parishes provided a livestream of Masses, the Brisbane archdiocese wanted to go a step further and created an online parish that could be a central meeting point in the same way a physical parish brings together its community.

Archbishop Coleridge said it was important for online parishioners to see a regular face and engage with a priest in something like the way they would if they were attending a physical parish.

Each week, Fr Brannelly will introduce the livestream of a Sunday Mass for parishioners, invite prayer intentions, delve into the lives of saints on their feast days and feature in other engagement opportunities with parishioners.

The online parish began in line with the new liturgical year, with the Advent season leading into Christmas celebrations.

Fr Brannelly said the online parish community enabled people to feel as though they had a regular connection in their faith, just as they would if they were coming to a parish.

"We expect we will engage with people who are still going to their physical parish but who may not be able to make it every weekend."

Sources

The Catholic Leader

CathNews

Australian Catholics

Despite the lockdowns aimed at preventing the often deadly virus's spread, "the doors for the church have never been more open", Pastor Greg Laurie says.

His first online service when the lockdown started was watched by 250,000 people.

Since then, attendance has continued to grow, Laurie says.

Millennials' participation in Laurie's online services has been particularly noticeable, with a 235 per cent increase in attendance since the first Sunday of the lockdown.

By last Sunday, over a million people watched Laurie's online Sunday service.

"These are people literally from all around the world, from every age and background, who are missing church. So, to the best of our ability, we are bringing church to them," he says.

The "most surprising thing" about the online congregation is those coming to faith, he says.

As an example, he says at the close of every sermon, he's been offering an opportunity for people to pray and ask Jesus to come into their lives.

Over 31,000 people have responded to that invitation since the lockdown started.

"For decades, the church has been trying, seemingly in vain, to reach America's youngest generations—millennials and Generation Z—with the Gospel.

"All the while, we've seen headline after headline and poll after poll reminding us that church attendance has been falling, and rapidly.

"Enter a global pandemic. Could it be that simply by responding as best and as quickly as we could to something no one saw coming, we've unwittingly stumbled into part of God's answer to a generational riddle?"

While a virtual church could never replace physical church, Laurie says God might be using online technology to reach millions of young people in a way that they are "very comfortable with".

"Maybe it's a new piece to an ever-evolving puzzle: how to say something old to a new audience.

"Just as Paul wrote letters, as Gutenberg used the printing press and as Billy Graham used film and television, the church is called to engage the un-churched and under-churched, using whatever useful tools we have at our disposal.

"Don't misunderstand me. Nothing takes the place of the local church and gathering and worshipping in person.

I am also alarmed by some of the overreach on the part of some government authorities who are not letting Christians gather even for a drive-in service on Easter morning."

Laurie says although he's looking forward to preaching to congregations in church buildings when they reopen, "we are seeing something take place that look an awful lot to me like a spiritual awakening."

• Source Christian Today
• Image: The Gospel Herald