In Six Questions About the Future of the Hybrid Church Experience, a new Barna journal, recent data highlight a sobering downward trend in Americans’ church attendance right now, particularly among practicing Christians who attended church weekly pre-pandemic (79% vs. 51% currently).
While many churches have re-opened since the nationwide shut down in March, the logistics—and perhaps necessity—of hybrid church (combination of in-person and digital) is something pastors are remain curious about. What does it mean to offer both in-person and digital experiences? How can these experiences be just as impactful online as they are in-person?
More than one-third of adults who’ve attended church and engaged with online services during the pandemic (36%) says they have trouble focusing during said services. This is especially true for those with children in the home (41% vs. 33% of attendees without kids in the home say they struggle to focus), hinting at some of the difficulty guardians may face as they try to simultaneously facilitate their household’s church attendance, occupy children and youth and still engage in worship themselves.
To help pastors and their teams combat this challenge and continue to encourage engagement for those who are viewing virtually, Mark Matlock, Barna’s Insights Director and President of WisdomWorks, offers three digital lenses to keep in mind when converting live services to a digital context: value, engagement and time and space.
