COVID-19 and the Changing Meaning of Attendance

African American Churches, Attendance, Culture Frame, Featured-Fieldnote, Mainline & Liberal Protestant Churches, Surveys, Technology & Internet, United States & Canada

How many people attended religious services last week? That used to be a relatively simple question, but COVID-19 has turned that on its head. And the safety decisions that leaders made not only had an immediate impact on congregational attendance but are likely to affect the future. Overall Religious Attendance Declining Religious service attendance in…

Finding God in a Pandemic and Beyond:
Online and Ordinary Sacred Places

Attendance, Buildings & Spaces, Catholic Parishes, Culture Frame, Ritual & Worship, Technology & Internet, Theology Frame, Theology-Feature, United States & Canada

Where does one go to find God? Quite commonly, a place of worship. Even people who aren’t sure if God exists seek divine help in churches and mosques and cathedrals because such religious buildings are understood as sacred spaces. If God does exist, surely God will be found in these holy places. 

This understanding of sacred space poses a problem in a global pandemic, however. Where does one go to find God when those religious buildings are closed? And beyond the pandemic, it challenges communities of faith to think in new ways.

Producing Religion Online: Two Case Studies

Commitment & Belonging, Culture Frame, Participant Observation, Ritual & Worship, Technology & Internet

[message_box title=”From the Editor” color=”blue”]This article features interactive content. To see additional commentary hover your mouse over the maroon hyperlinks. Additional orange hyperlinks in the commentary will take to you additional resources here on the site. Enjoy! — TKS[/message_box] RELEVANT Media Group  Cameron Strang founded RELEVANT Media Group in 2000 when he was 24 because he could not find…

Pop-Up Shabbat: A Dinner Community Case Study

Attendance, Commitment & Belonging, Culture Frame, Jewish Synagogues, Resources Frame, Technology & Internet

[message_box title=”From the Editor” color=”blue”]This article features interactive content. To see additional commentary hover your mouse over the maroon hyperlinks. Additional orange hyperlinks in the commentary will take to you additional resources here on the site. Enjoy! — TKS[/message_box] Pop-Up Shabbat  is a pop-up restaurant inspired by Jewish culture and tradition in Brooklyn, NY. Each gathering lasts 3-4 hours…

Congregational Snapshots: Understanding and Engaging Congregations through Cell Phone Photographs

Buildings & Spaces, Commitment & Belonging, Culture Frame, Technology & Internet, Visual Methods, VisualMethod-Feature

This is the first post in a  series by the Congregational Studies Visual Methods Fellow, Roman R. Williams, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Work at Calvin College. He is an expert in visual research methodology, and his current research looks at ways in which local congregations can use visual research methods…