I began researching online faith spaces in 2017 during my time as a Ph.D. student at Penn State University. Within the last two weeks, in response to COVID-19, the CDC is encouraging social-distancing while state governments have placed restrictions on physical gatherings. Faced with unprecedented times, church leaders around the world are turning to online spaces as a lifeline to their parishioners.
As a learning science researcher, I approach the church using a learning theory called Communities of Practice. (See: Approaching the Church from a Learning Science Perspective.) Christopher Hoadley, an NYU professor of Learning Sciences/Educational Technology outlines four ways technology can support Communities of Practice:
Linking people with others who have similar practices
Ex: A Facebook group connecting various ministry groups, age groups, etc.
Providing a shared repository of information resources
Ex: A church GroupMe chat where participants can share resources i.e. sermon links, devotionals, prayers, praise reports, testimonies, etc.
Providing tools for discussing with others
Ex: A Google Hangout for small groups to discuss the sermon and how they plan to apply it
Providing awareness of the information context of various resources
Ex: After a sermon or bible study, sharing a YouTube playlist of additional worship songs, sermons, bible studies, etc. centered around the same theme
Below, I have outlined a few ways technology can help churches stay connected. This list is by no means exhaustive, but does highlight free resources communities can adapt in order to meet the needs of their congregations.
In order to access the hyperlinks, download the PDF below:
August 2008, my first day of college: I’m excited, anxious, nervous, ready to be intellectually engaged… I entered the largest lecture hall on campus (enrollment: 725) and within minutes… I was wildly unimpressed. My professor’s delivery was bland and monotonous. I looked around to see if any other students shared my disillusion but they seemed unfazed.
I quickly realized that I was comparing my professor to the only other large “lecture” setting I had experienced growing up – church.
I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and grew up regularly attending Mt. Ararat Baptist Church under Rev. Dr. William H. Curtis. I didn’t know at that time, but he was a teaching preacher. (It wasn’t until I left for college that I began to understand the vast diversity in preaching styles.)
He began with the context of the scripture, walked us through the history, made connections, provided examples, employed similes and metaphors. He painted pictures, used illustrations, and equipped us with actionable items to put into practice before we left. He was charismatic, funny, serious, excited about the content, thoughtful and most of all, he cared about the learners in the room.
Looking back, I was naive to believe that all lecturers embodied those same abilities, but nonetheless, I was still underwhelmed.
Now, almost twelve years later, back on that same campus, I am a doctoral student in Penn State’s College of Education. I am completing my Ph.D. in Learning, Design, and Technology exploring the church as a learning space. The field of the learning sciences studies how people learn, effective ways and environments in which people learn, and how technology can play a role in those learning interactions.
Learning science research has been applied to a variety of contexts including formal settings i.e. K-12 education, higher education, as well as informal environments i.e. skate parks, ballet studios and museums. Rarely have researchers within the field applied these learning theories and tools within the religious context.
According to a 2017 Gallup study[1], nearly eight in ten (78.7%) U.S. adults identify with some type of religion and approximately 75% of U.S. adults identify with a Christian faith. When asked what are the major reasons for attending church or other places of worship three out of every four respondents identified these two responses as major factors: “sermons or talks that teach you more about scripture” (75%) and “sermons or lectures that help you connect religion to your own life” (76%) (Sermon Content is What Appeals Most to Churchgoers).
Furthermore, this study revealed, most Americans choose to attend religious worship services to learn about their religion and to apply that knowledge to their own lives. Approaching this through the lens of the learning sciences: parishioners (learners), enter into a house of worship (learning environment), seeking knowledge about their religious curriculum with a desire to apply these teachings to their daily lives.
I approach the church using a learning science theory called Communities of Practice. A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of individuals who have self-organized under a common purpose. They “typically solve problems, discuss insights, share information, talk about their lives, and ambitions, mentor and coach on each other, make plans for community activities, develop tools and frameworks that become part of the common knowledge of the community. Over time these mutual interactions and relationships build up a shared body of knowledge and a sense of identity (Wenger, 1999, p. 4).”
Members of the group gather because they find value in learning from one another. As a diverse group of learners, ranging from novice to expert, they share knowledge and inform practices with one another (Wenger, et al., 2002).
I believe that faith communities, those that meet in-person and otherwise, can be viewed through the lens of the learning sciences as unique learning communities. As these practitioners of faith join together, there is an opportunity for a Community of Practice to form allowing learning to take place through the social interactions of the individuals.
Graphic illustration by Nitya Wakhlu, produced at the Experience Engagement conference in October 2015. Retrieved from: https://medium.com/lets-gather/how-do-you-support-a-community-of-practice-8e0abf2ac00b
[1] Results of the Gallup poll were based on telephone interviews conducted in 2017 with a random sample of 126,965 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Results included 70% cellphone respondents and 30% landline respondents.
Wenger, E. (1999). Is Your Company Ready for Communities of Practice? Cambridge: Social Capital Group.
Wenger, E., McDermott, R. A., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice: A guide to managing knowledge. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press.
In education, teachers call it a Flipped Classroom: what normally happens at home, happens at school; and what normally happens in school, happens at home. Teachers record their lectures in advance, send the video to students to watch at home; In school, when everyone is together, the students briefly review the lecture and then do practice problems. They do their homework at school and listen to the lecture at home.
The Classroom benefit: when students are gathered in school, they have a community of learners as a resource to help them with practice problems; (as opposed to someone at home who isn’t aware of what is happening at school). Students come to class prepared with questions and have had time to digest the material.
The At Home benefit: Students can pause, stop, rewind, take notes, take a break, re-listen etc. to the lecture at their own pace.
A few months ago, I wrestled with how this model could work with the church. At the time, it was a far stretch. To ask the entire congregation to watch a sermon online — unheard of. And on top of that, proposing to use the majority of service time for members to talk to one another, fellowship, reflect, testify, problem-solve and learn from each other —
At the time, it seemed radical.
And here we are. Congregations around the world are streaming their weekly services online. Church has (almost) flipped. The first part has happened. Instruction is now being consumed at home, but what about the homework? Where is discussion happening? Reflection? Testimony, community building, learning?
Now more than ever, it is essential for churches to create spaces for parishioners to “gather” in order to commune with one another. How can churches keep parishoners engaged beyond the service. Can small groups help participants “chew” on the word throughout the week?
How this could go:
Announce during service that the church is starting virtual small groups. [Display a survey link on the screen.] Encourage interested members to fill out the survey.
In the survey (here is an example) ask members what type of group they are interested in joining i.e. parents, anxiety, youth, singles, sermon discussion, etc.
Identify which day(s) of the week works best.
Match respondents and create small groups of 5-8 participants.
Identify (and train) a minister/leader who can meet with the group to act as a moderator
From there, the ministers come together to create weekly discussion questions. [Elevation Church has great leader and curriculum resources for small groups. Check these out and adapt for your congregation].
Tip: Create learning outcomes and work backwards.
Think: What do we want participants to leave knowing, then create questions that can lead to dynamic discussion.
Keep in mind:
You want a mix of beginners and experts in each group. You want participants learning from each other. Instead of viewing members as empty cups that need filled, view members as cups that are full of testimony, illustrations, knowledge etc. that they are willing to share with others. Creating authentic community puts everyone at the same level – everyone has different areas of expertise making them important contributors to the community.
Engage prior knowledge: To begin, ask participants what they already know about the topic at hand. Things they’ve heard before, inside or outside of the church. Don’t assume everyone is entering these discussions at the same place and it’s important to identify those gaps or misconceptions early on.
Give space for dialogue and reflection: It’s important for participants to feel like they have a voice and that their opinions and views matter. Church for many, can feel like a one-sided conversation. These spaces flip that view. Learning is a social activity. Talking through ideas, misconceptions, alternative viewpoints etc. can help advanced learners solidify their understanding and help newcomers develop underdeveloped thoughts.
Create artifacts: When we create or construct we show our understanding. In this case it can be a prayer journal, a notes page in their phone, a picture they draw, a background screen for their phone, a poem, a song, a devotional they say every morning, something they write on their mirror, etc. Encourage participants to create something (authentic to them) that demonstrates their learning or their takeaways from the message. This can be done after every meeting or over the course of several weeks. If comfortable, encourage participants to share their artifacts with one another: as a means to reflect and get to know each other!
We are social beings: In isolation, we naturally seek community, (wherever we can find it). What if now is the time to try something new? What if churches were the lighthouse in a time of darkness? What if our groups were so authentic and impactful that the unchurched wanted to get connected?
Tech Tips:
Zoom or Google Hangouts are two great platforms for small groups. Both allow users to connect via phone or computer.
Create a password for entry. Sensitive information may be shared in these groups and you want to ensure that there are no unwanted “lurkers” in your rooms.
Have the moderator set ground rules to create safe spaces at the beginning of each session. Welcome newcomers and make everyone feel valued and seen. Some other rules you can include:
Participants have the right to “pass” on activities/questions that feel uncomfortable
It is okay to not to know answers to everything
Everyone’s opinions are to be respected
Be discreet about group discussions (i.e., no gossiping)
Speak for yourself. Use “I statements” to state opinions or feelings
Respect others’ differences
Play music as people enter the space. Just like at church, create an environment that sets the atmosphere upon entering.
Christian churches are facing a unique challenge to address weakening membership which has steadily declined over the last 20 years (Gallup, 2019). The ongoing concern within the religious Christian community is that millennials are the problem. The millennial generation is perceived as the least connected to religion and church (Puffer, 2017). According to a 2019 Gallup study, only 57% of millennials who identify as Christians belong to a church. This is more than a 10-point decline as compared to the 68% of Generation X Christians who belonged to a church when they were roughly the same age (Gallup, 2019). A lack of millennial participation in the church infers a dying church. Without the younger generation taking a more active role in membership, there is fear that traditional churches may cease to exist in the near future.
Researchers who study young adult religious engagement have attributed several factors to this decline including generational disparities, varying religious engagement throughout the life cycle, a national trend towards a lack of religious affiliation and secularization by means of exposure to higher education (Hayward, 2013; Jacobs, 2019; Van Ingen, 2015). The Gallup report summarizes the religious trends of adults in the United States this way:
Religiosity plummets after age 18, coincident with young people leaving home and heading out into the real world of work or college. Then, religiosity begins to rise again as young people go through their 30s, coincident what marriage, children and more stable involvement in specific communities. Religiosity generally continues to rise with age.
While these factors may certainly play a role in the decline of millennial church attendance there are several gaps in the literature.
While survey research indicates millennial in-person church attendance is declining, there is a gap in the literatures as to how millennials may be using technology to engage in their faith practices. Similar to how traditional in-person learning environments have extended to online learning beyond the classroom, such is the case with faith learning extending beyond the church walls. To suggest that church attendance is the only measure of church membership or faith engagement, as some previous studies have reported, may be overlooking other avenues individuals use to access religious teachings.
I hope to have more to contribute to this conversation (after I finish my dissertation). For now, check out this podcast where I join Lisa Smith of Convergence in Alexandria, VA as part of their Gather Series: re-imagining worship and gathering well in soulful community.
Episode 8: Gather: Lindsay Hayes on Technology & Faith Among Millennials
