No pew? No problem. Online church is revitalizing congregations.
After spending five years in Vietnam for her husband鈥檚 work assignment, Beth Schultz looked forward to reconnecting with church life in 2016 when her family returned to Portland, Oregon. But she easily gets overwhelmed in groups, she says, and she didn鈥檛 feel a warm welcome at her church. She tried practicing faith independently, but habits were hard to sustain with no community support.
All that changed last year, however, when joining another church became an option 鈥� a church 2,000 miles away. 聽
Ms. Schultz began worshipping at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, one of many making room during the pandemic for new 鈥渧irtual members鈥� who attend only online. She watches services on YouTube in her bathrobe, attends social gatherings on Zoom, and is glad to be rid of what she calls 鈥渢he judgment factor鈥� that she鈥檚 too often felt when visiting churches in person. So when Wilshire Senior Pastor George Mason started inviting online attendees to join the congregation, no matter where they live, she eagerly signed up.
Why We Wrote This
As churches have had to go online to hold services during the pandemic, they have learned something surprising: Practicing religion in cyberspace works. Many have attracted faraway followers and rejuvenated congregations.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to be seen, noticed, and welcomed when you show up alone,鈥� says Ms. Schultz, who tithes to her faraway church and sometimes has a speaking role during worship. 鈥淚t feels like less pressure when you鈥檙e behind a screen. You don鈥檛 have to talk, but you can talk when you鈥檙e ready to talk.鈥�
It鈥檚 a pandemic shift no one saw coming at the start of 2020. Churches that had long assumed their members would live nearby are no longer resigned to geographic constraints. As congregations have gone online to maintain ministries while social distancing, new worshippers from other regions have been showing up. Now some are getting even more involved. They鈥檙e becoming part of the fabric of church life as members, regular donors, and active participants in a host of church activities.聽
鈥淥nline really is a way to reach people that maybe we couldn鈥檛 reach in a local setting because some people wouldn鈥檛 come into a church building,鈥� says Gary McIntosh, professor of 海角大神 ministry and leadership at Biola University in La Mirada, California, and author of 23 books on church growth. 鈥淏ut they will observe a worship service online, and they will get involved in a small group online.鈥澛�
Just how many congregations are taking in far-flung worshippers is difficult to pin down. But congregations large and small are reporting notable increases. Wilshire, a church of 2,000 active members, has identified 22 new participants during the pandemic who live too far away to attend in person yet are highly engaged, including seven who鈥檝e formally joined. Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration (aka The Fig), also in Dallas, counts 21 faraway people who are deeply involved. This includes new members who live in Tennessee and England, according to Anne Schmidt, director of evangelism and welcoming ministries.
In Florida, the Wildwood United Methodist Church has created a new 鈥渘etwork partner鈥� category. So far, 12 distant participants have taken the pledge to 鈥減articipate digitally as much as possible鈥� among other commitments. Hundreds more take part in what Michael Beck, co-pastor of Wildwood UMC, calls 鈥渘ew forms of digital church.鈥� These include 鈥淐reate鈥� and 鈥淵oga Church Digital,鈥� which are considered expressions of church in which participants make art and do yoga in 海角大神 devotional contexts.聽
鈥淔or us, 鈥榲irtual鈥� is real, not less than real,鈥� says Mr. Beck in an email. 鈥淩eal community forms there with real people. In fact, people seem to be much more open to share personal struggles and get spiritually intimate in an online venue. So we spread these experiences across the whole seven-day workweek, as many people work or do other activities on Sundays.鈥�
Online memberships are changing notions of what church life entails. Faith communities began 2020 expecting members to attend worship in person at least somewhat regularly and receive Holy Communion from a server鈥檚 hand. Perhaps they鈥檇 come to a potluck lunch now and then toting a covered dish.
Now people can belong, officially or informally, without ever darkening a church door. That raises challenging questions about what it means to be a church where some people can鈥檛 take part in defining activities, such as sharing in the Lord鈥檚 Supper. Nor can they ever line up side by side to stuff backpacks that will be given to children in need at a nearby school.
鈥淥ur new question needs to be: How do we think about mission possibilities that can be adapted to be national or global so that everybody can participate?鈥� says Michelle Snyder, a church consultant in Pittsburgh.
鈥淟ike coming home鈥�
Congregations have a lot riding on whether they can turn mere viewers into engaged participants. Part of it is financial. Though a slight majority of churches have seen attendance increase during the pandemic because of their online outreach, 42% say financial giving has declined, according to a September study from the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Roman Catholic parishes have been especially hard hit, with 61% reporting declining donations. Small churches have also been squeezed.
The 鈥渄igital divide has contributed to the struggle to maintain giving in smaller congregations without in-person services,鈥� says the Lake Institute鈥檚 COVID-19 Congregational Study. If churches can cultivate online followers, the hope goes, then increased giving will likely follow, as will the spiritual fruits of dedication to practicing faith in a community.聽
Online ministries have continued even though most U.S. congregations have resumed in-person worship. In September, 79% of regular attendees at religious services said their congregations were still streaming services, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
In fact, churches are starting to regard their distant attendees as more than a curious novelty. They鈥檙e shaping the collective character of congregations.聽
In some cases, opening doors to far-off worshippers means welcoming back those who moved away. Consider All Saints Episcopal Church, a congregation founded about 25 years ago in Bellevue, Washington. With no building of its own, the church convened in pre-pandemic times in a rented office park suite, where about 13 people would show up on a typical Sunday. Now that the congregation meets on Zoom, some 21 people regularly attend, from four time zones. They include once-inactive members who have happily reactivated their status.聽
Hanne Peterson, for instance, attends from Bellinge, Denmark. She鈥檚 been missing All Saints ever since she returned to her native country in 2016, after 50 years working and raising a family in the United聽States. Having felt disoriented and not warmly welcomed at churches in Denmark, she seized the chance to be active again at All Saints. She鈥檚 resumed attending worship and Sunday school. She also receives the newsletter and donates monthly.聽
鈥淲hen I log in on Zoom, it鈥檚 like coming home,鈥� Ms. Peterson says. 鈥淵ou can listen to or look at any church services [online], but it鈥檚 different when it鈥檚 a church that鈥檚 your church and you know the people in it.鈥�
To accommodate participants from eastern time zones, All Saints changed its schedules. 海角大神 education sessions have moved from Sunday nights to Sunday mornings.聽
Returning post-pandemic to in-person gatherings with no online component would feel like a step backward, according to the Rev. Josephine Robertson, vicar of All Saints, because distant members would be left out. The church is even starting to discuss going further: possibly becoming an online-only church. That way it wouldn鈥檛 have to pay rent.聽
鈥淎 community like mine is going to be asking some really different questions than what churches have asked in the past,鈥� says Ms. Robertson. 鈥淲hat looks for others like, 鈥榊ay, we get to get back together,鈥� would be for us: 鈥極h, we鈥檙e about to lose a whole bunch of connections to people.鈥欌�澛�
A revived congregation
In some cases, long-distance worshipping is bringing congregations back to life. Before the pandemic sparked an exodus from church buildings to cyberspace, Judah Fellowship 海角大神 Church in Pittsburgh was barely functioning. Having lost its pastor, the Rev. Shanea Leonard, to a new job in Kentucky, this largely African American and LGBTQ congregation had not gathered regularly for worship since 2018.聽
When churches migrated online, Ms. Leonard could suddenly reconnect with her Pittsburgh flock by Zoom from Louisville. Parishioners could pray together and engage in broad theological conversations about issues that often come up at Judah but many other churches don鈥檛 broach, from sexual identity to regulating firearms. That led to reconstituting regular worship and church growth.聽
鈥淧eople who鈥檝e found the church for the first time are people who reached out personally to me, like some people in New York, who said, 鈥榃e want you to be our pastor,鈥欌�� Ms. Leonard says.聽
As word spread about the revived congregation, people became actively involved. Several New Yorkers have joined as members, and the flock has added people in Seattle and New Orleans as well as immigrants from Haiti and Jamaica. The congregation is still based in Pittsburgh, but it鈥檚 become a national church with an international flavor.聽
In Houston, a congregation was started from scratch through long-distance recruiting. Pastor Mike Whang spotted the potential as he was overseeing several small groups at Chapelwood United Methodist Church. When the groups moved online, he asked: Why not draw newcomers from beyond Houston? With that idea, Oikon United Methodist Church was started as an online community on Oct. 1 with participation coming from as far away as California and Australia.聽
Much of what they experience online is similar to what participants would do in a local church. They join small groups in which they confide personal struggles, emotional wounds, and spiritual progress. Indeed, many say they can sometimes develop more meaningful relationships online than they can attending a local church.聽聽
Such was the case for Sharon Cho, who鈥檚 long attended United Methodist congregations around Irvine, California. Everyone seemed to know each other at the churches Ms. Cho went to, which made her hesitant to join one. She felt discussing past experiences could be awkward. She鈥檚 more comfortable opening up about her spiritual life online among people she won鈥檛 run into at the grocery store.聽
鈥淭here is a level of safety when you鈥檙e behind a screen,鈥� says Ms. Cho. 鈥淲hen there鈥檚 a screen, you can be authentic and real. Then you shut it off and that鈥檚 it. You鈥檙e done with the interactions. Sometimes when you鈥檙e in person, it鈥檚 like you can鈥檛 escape.鈥澛�
Others agree that what鈥檚 important are the connections you make at church, not whether you鈥檙e in the pews or not. Chelsea Adamson got involved with Oikon last year, even though she was in the process of moving from the U.S. to Australia. She had a friend who attended Oikon, and she finds online relationships are as real as those in person. She sets her alarm for 3:58 a.m. on Mondays. Two minutes later, she鈥檚 attending her church鈥檚 Sunday service in Texas via smartphone from 9,000 miles away. Then on Tuesdays at 1 p.m., she stops whatever she鈥檚 doing to meet by Zoom with two women in her small group.
鈥淲e all take notes when we鈥檙e asking for prayer requests, so they know everything I鈥檓 struggling with and it鈥檚 not just like, 鈥極K yeah, cool, next person,鈥欌�� Ms. Adamson says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very, very intimate.鈥�
Finding family
Joining a distant church comes with unavoidable trade-offs. If you鈥檙e hospitalized, the pastor won鈥檛 be there to pray at your bedside. You won鈥檛 make new friends through chance encounters in the parking lot.
Some people worshipping online say they鈥檒l probably affiliate with a local church, even if informally, after the pandemic rather than just tune into services over the internet. They like the intimacy that comes with sitting in the pews and being shoulder to shoulder with fellow parishioners.聽
Nicole Fike sees benefits in both forms of worship. She was attending a local church in Grayson, Georgia, but wasn鈥檛 able to get the congregation to back her idea of holding services at a food pantry. But now she receives guidance and encouragement for her ministry project from Wildwood United Methodist in Florida, 500 miles away, which she joined as a network partner in 2020.
鈥淚 was interacting with members of Wildwood three times a week over Zoom, so they became our church family,鈥� says Ms. Fike. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 something planned. It just happened.鈥�
Yet Ms. Fike still craves being around people. On a family vacation to Florida last June, she and her husband made sure to meet Mr. Beck of Wildwood; his wife, Jill; and their daughter for dinner. Online church is great for yoga and study, she says, but she still longs to spend a week at Wildwood after the pandemic 鈥� and even flirts with the idea of relocating.聽
鈥淚 have thought about moving to Wildwood just because I feel so strongly and support what Michael, Jill, and their leadership team do in their community,鈥� Ms. Fike says.聽
Others are finding ways to compensate for what they might be missing out on by worshipping online. Retiree Phil Jackson of Delaware, Ohio, joined Wilshire 鈥� 1,000 miles from his home 鈥� in 2020. Ironically, he鈥檇 thought Wilshire was too far when he lived just one hour鈥檚 drive away in Arlington, Texas, from 2011 to 2020. But the pandemic shift to online ministry made it feel close enough to take part as a full-fledged member.聽
So far, he鈥檚 been able to do everything locals do: worship, attend Sunday school, participate in fellowship time, and contribute to the collection. While most churches are grappling with how far to go in holding services digitally, Mr. Jackson has decided that, for him, reverting to sitting in pews feels too conventional.聽
鈥淢y personality likes to have a lot more personal freedom,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o who knows: This virtual membership might have been a heaven-sent opportunity for me. I hope it is.鈥� 聽
In Worthing, England, Ginny Ward is planing to keep her long-distance membership with The Fig, 4,700 miles away in Dallas. Ministries there have helped her navigate some important personal decisions, which led her to join the church when it became an option last year.聽
On Sundays, she gets up at 1 a.m. to tune into the service and participate in other activities, such as a session with volunteers who make prayer shawls for people experiencing hard times.
鈥淚 do it to get to know them more deeply and pray for their concerns and their lives,鈥� says Ms. Ward. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been an awful lot going on in the [U.S.] lately, and I don鈥檛 just mean the pandemic. I feel a connection, and I want to grow that connection.鈥�
For in-person support, she maintains her local membership at a nearby Worthing church, where she has introduced the prayer shawl ministry.
Virtual services here to stay?
To foster long-distance connections, congregations are starting to designate people to tend specifically to cyberspace flocks. For example, Long Hollow Baptist Church outside Nashville last year created a new position for Andrew Bolton 鈥� digital pastor.
鈥淵esterday I was talking to a guy in Montana who鈥檚 been joining us online for the past couple of months,鈥� Mr. Bolton says. 鈥淣ow he鈥檚 trying to figure out: 鈥楬ow do I get in a life group? I live in Montana.鈥欌��
As churches cultivate online participation, they can use it to reach out to regular members, too, who may not be able to attend services because they work on weekends or have moved away temporarily.聽
鈥淭his is a vast improvement in the delivery system for a majority of congregations,鈥� says Scott Thumma, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research and co-author of 鈥淭he Other 80 Percent: Turning Your Church鈥檚 Spectators Into Active Participants,鈥� in an email.聽
One other advantage of digital services may be to draw new people to church altogether. This might include young people who are interested in spirituality but wary of organized religion. Others may desire the support of a church community but don鈥檛 want to sit in the pews to get it.
鈥淣ow you鈥檝e got millennials who鈥檙e looking for online community,鈥� says Ms. Snyder, the church consultant in Pittsburgh. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got baby boomers who鈥檙e becoming shut-ins and need online community. You鈥檝e got introverts who aren鈥檛 comfortable in crowds, and you鈥檝e got single people who feel awkward going to a church alone. You鈥檝e got all of these people who鈥檙e largely unreached by church as we鈥檝e done it. If we can move to online platforms that engage those people ... it could make all the difference in the world.鈥�
