Covid digital worship opened up religious life
'Smaller communities – including Quaker Meetings – seemed to adapt better to the change than larger ones.'
Digital worship during the pandemic has paved the way for long-term changes, according to a new study into religious life during the pandemic.
Researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Chester surveyed and held focus groups of hundreds of people including clergy.
Despite the best efforts of leaders to adapt quickly and provide virtual religious experiences, the study participants found digital worship to be less spiritual, less meaningful and, on the whole, less effective.
However, people enjoyed being able to ‘visit’ different churches, mosques or places of worship other than their own. Online worship also opened doors for those unable to attend in person, expanding religious life to a wider range of the public.
Overall, the changes may have accelerated an already existing trend towards a more digital religious experience, the researchers argue, but what that future will look like is still not clear.
Eleanor O’Keefe, research associate for the project, told the Friend that she interviewed six Quakers and completed a case study of a Quaker educational institute. She also took part in a Zoom Meeting for Worship which she found ‘a powerful experience’, despite not being religious. Overall she found that the Friends enjoyed their Zoom Meetings and had not found it disruptive to their communities, although they recognised that it excluded some people. She said they seemed to have embraced the situation with a noticeable ‘peace’.
Josh Edelman, lead researcher, said: ‘We hope this project will help religious leaders think through the possibilities and challenges of digital technology, so that when they’re used, it’s in a helpful, humane way that broadens out and opens up religious life, rather than shutting it down.’
The report found that ‘informal, interactive services, such as collaborative discussions held over video-conferencing software, were more popular than technically sophisticated live streams, demonstrating the enduring importance of communal experiences’. Smaller communities – including Quaker Meetings – seemed to adapt better to the change than larger ones.
