“Electronic Church” 2.0: Are Virtual and In-Person Attendance Associated with Mental and Physical Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Abstract

Over the past four decades, studies have consistently shown that regular attendance at religious services is associated with better mental and physical health. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many congregations paused in-person religious services and moved their worship rituals online. The ways that churches have responded to the threat of infectious disease require new conceptualizations and operationalizations of religious attendance and novel comparisons of the causes and consequences of virtual and in-person attendance. Analyses of data collected from a national probability sample of Americans (n = 1,717) show that while in-person religious attendance is associated with better mental and physical health, virtual attendance is unrelated to both outcomes in fully adjusted models. Taken together, these findings suggest that the association between religious attendance and health during a global pandemic may be contingent on physical proximity and the nature of the social and experiential aspects of religious worship.

Does Religious Service Attendance Condition the Link between Relationship Status and Mattering to Others? Evidence From the United States during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…While the BRS data did not ask respondents to specify whether they attended religious services remotely or in-person, a limitation of the survey, this may explain why attendance bore no association with perceptions of mattering in our study at a time of flux in the religious context. One speculative interpretation of this finding, consistent with the results of Upenieks et al (2023), is that virtual worship platforms may be less effective at generating social support and creating a sense of community and belongingness created among co-religionists that are central to both well-being and mattering. In addition, the lack of sensory experience from attending religious services virtually or via modified services may also dampen any beneficial association of attendance and mattering.…”

“…Such relationship changes in individuals’ lives may have been impossible to detect on online platforms, and this may have lowered the motivational bar for divorced people to attend virtual services. Though virtual attendance services were not associated with any mental health benefits in another study (Upenieks et al 2023), they may still help promote perceptions of mattering to others. The online platform may have been more welcoming and effective at connecting unpartnered individuals during the pandemic.…”

“…Estimates by the Pew Research Center (2021) suggest that attendance levels in April of 2021 reached only 85 percent of pre-pandemic levels. An extensive body of research has suggested the psychological benefits of religious involvement to be premised on one’s physical presence in religious settings (Koenig, King, and Carson 2012), and research during the pandemic suggested that only in-person religious attendance, not virtual attendance, was associated with lower psychological distress and better self-rated health (Upenieks et al 2023). While the BRS data did not ask respondents to specify whether they attended religious services remotely or in-person, a limitation of the survey, this may explain why attendance bore no association with perceptions of mattering in our study at a time of flux in the religious context.…”

Religious Dynamics and Traditional Beliefs in the Ruwat Laut Ritual Amidst the Pandemic Crisis

“…Meanwhile, the second group of researchers examines how technology and digital changes have played a crucial role in maintaining and altering the implementation of religious rituals during the pandemic. Many studies have highlighted the role of online platforms in sustaining participation in religious rituals, particularly through virtual worship services (Ben-Lulu, 2021;Claisse & Durrant, 2023;Dein & Watts, 2023;Harrison, 2023;Katoch & Rana, 2023;Upenieks et al, 2023). Some of these studies investigate how religious rituals and worship have shifted from physical experiences to virtual spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”