PushpayPosted on 03/02/2023 7:23:16 AM PST by SeekAndFind
As many churches have now reopened their doors in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic only a minority of them still view in-person worship services as the church model of the future. A majority see a hybrid model utilizing various online technologies as the new normal according to a new study from Pushpay.
In their 2023 State of Church Technology report, Pushpay, the leading payments and engagement solutions provider for faith-based and non-profit sectors, the company said when their researchers asked church leaders what the future of their church will look like in 12 months only 28% of respondents indicated in-person only while many had multiple outlooks.
“Surprisingly, instead of selecting a single answer, hundreds of respondents selected two or more options. This indicates significant uncertainty about what their ministries may look like in a year’s time,” Pushpay researchers said. “That level of doubt hampers a church’s ability to make informed tech decisions. Adopting new digital tools should be grounded in a vision of the future—but at this inflection point, that may be difficult for many ministries.”
While 28% of respondents saw in-person only services in the next 12 months, an almost equal share, 25% believe the church will be meeting in the metaverse which Facebook describes as “a set of virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people who aren’t in the same physical space as you.”Pushpay
Another 20% said worship will be online only while a staggering 81% of respondents predict worship services will encompass a hybrid model.
The annual study, which is now in its second year examines digital trends in the Church. Data for the study was collected through a survey conducted between September and October 2022. More than 2,200 church leaders from all branches of Christianity across the U.S. participated and some two-thirds of them represented churches with an annual budget of less than $1 million.
The report noted that in 2022, 89% of churches used a hybrid model and only 10% said they were worshiping in person only.
Now, says Pushpay the new data reflects an expectation among church leaders for growth in online-only or metaverse worship services.
“Interestingly, when asked to speculate on how their church might operate one year from now, that hybrid figure slides down to 81%—but online only and metaverse spike upward significantly. So the lower hybrid figure doesn’t necessarily mean churches are abandoning digital church, but rather that they’re considering new tech-driven opportunities,” researchers explained. “The spirit of hybrid church is leveraging technology to increase flexibility, adaptability, and inclusivity in ministry.”
Molly Matthews, Pushpay CEO said in a statement to The Christian Post that: “We are seeing an exciting shift in the faith sector as church leaders are becoming more tech savvy and eager to explore new approaches to engagement in a digital era.”
A strong 94% of churches also still maintain that technology is important to their mission, and 53% define their ministry as “progressive” when it comes to technology, many however see cost as the biggest obstacle to investing in products that they need.
“Of the top five factors considered ‘extremely important’ when considering new tech, only price was judged more important versus last year. Notably, further down that list, there was also a large uptick in the importance of usage-based pricing. One possible explanation for this trend is the economy at large,” the researchers said. “At the time of the survey, churches were just emerging from a pandemic that likely strained their balance sheets, and they may be buckling down for an anticipated recession in the near future.”
Bad idea, we were created to commune with each other, not isolate ourselves.
They’ve been saying this since worship services were aired on radio, then later when they started airing TV (along with FDR’s fireside chats Biden watched as a boy).
In 1929.
“Heavenly Father, we welcome all tuning in to our online Church service. And please click that ‘Like and Subscribe’ button”.
My church streams our services on FB and YouTube. We do this as outreach to those who don’t attend church or know Christ as well as for our “Shut-In” ministry: homebound seniors and infirm who cannot go out into public. We stream our services and then go to them for checks, communion, etc.
We don’t advocate virtual attendance, but we see it as a domain where the Gospel can be spread to those who just happen to scroll across our feed.
Just more and better ways to bring more people to Christ.
It would be irresponsible for Church leaders not to use all the tools in their power to spread the word.
The most effective will always be Christian believers talking to friends and relatives face to face.
To participate in things like baptisms or communion you had to be there of course but you could watch the service at any time.
In the UMC, illegally. The pastor has to be directly involved and it has to stay in the sanctuary IIRC.
Authentic Catholics know that, at a minimum, one has got to show up, in person, with one’s backside in the pew, and knees on the kneeler, every Lord’s day and every Holy Day of Obligation as designated by one’s local ordinary. To do otherwise is to take a nosedive directly into a lifestyle defined by continual grave sin.
Very funny! Sad, but funny. 🤔 Actually just sad.
"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."
“Most church leaders...” are heretics and idiots.
My services are on youtube. I’m not tethered to one minister or church
The day of the mega churches is coming to an end. We are going to go back to the house churches, small gatherings, where the word will be the focus and not church programs. Community. This will have a greater effect.
RE: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,
I wonder if Zoom meetings can be considered “assembling together” ...
“Authentic Catholics”
In the US we have almost all “cafeteria Catholics” who pick and choose what they like from the menu.
The “authentic Catholics” could probably fit in a phone booth—and if they obey the current woke zombie anti-Pope then they probably don’t count anyway.
;-)
That is how I turned my daughter to Christianity. No church was going to do it if she refused to go. It took me a few yrs but she is a strong believer now
Historically, that is how the Church grew from a tiny sect to dominate the Roman Empire, and much of the world.
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