Displaying items by tag: Digital Church

A ‘deep-seated dissatisfaction’ with online worship has been identified by year-long research by two universities. They state, by almost every measurement, the experience of pandemic online rituals are perceived as less meaningful, less communal, less spiritual, less effective, and so on.’ The report concludes, ‘Our research revealed both considerable innovation in, and deep-seated dissatisfaction with, digital worship during the pandemic. There have been positive developments and adaptations which will strengthen religious life in the long term, but for most people the move to online ritual has been a loss, not gain.’ It notes, however, that there is an appetite for religion online for those seeking out new communities, experiences, and modes of worship’. Also an online survey of 604 religious leaders and congregation members notes that human connection is more important to congregants than technical quality; worshippers preferred interactive Zoomover streaming video. Online-offline hybrid seems likely to be the way forward.’

A year after its launch the Church of England’s Alexa skill has been asked over 75,000 questions. The smart speaker skill was originally launched with prayers, explanations of Christian faith and details of where to find the nearest church for local events and services. More family prayers have also been added, and integration improved with A Church Near You, the national church finder tool, showing maps of where the nearest church is. A range of videos have now been added to bring the Christian faith to life and showcase Church social action work across the country. The highest numbers of people using the skill were in the evening. So the teams added a wider range of mealtime, evening and night prayers. The skill is average 4.2 out of five stars on the Alexa store with comments such as ‘Love it - great example to the kids on how to pray’.