(Barna) In the spring of 2020, as much of the United States began enforcing social distancing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the overwhelming majority of churches accordingly closed their doors. Ministries shifted quickly to digital services as faith leaders and congregants encouraged each other with the reminder “Church is more than a building.”
But can digital ministry become more than a sermon? Our data collected during the 2020 tumult—releasing in a new report, Six Questions About the Future of the Hybrid Church Experience—suggest that a more holistic strategy for digital or hybrid ministry is needed for the long term. With overly optimistic or unclear ideas of how churchgoers are engaged in online services—typically the only digital option churches provide—pandemic-era pastoring may be largely devoid of meaningful touchpoints with congregants. This grey area surrounding online attendance is an urgent challenge of digital and hybrid ministry and underscores the need for more than streamed services.