Mission to Serve Tech: Churches "Lock Down" Technology During The Global Pandemic
Campbell, Heidi A; Daly, Jennifer; Osteen, Sophia A; Wallace, Andrea (2023). Mission to Serve Tech: Churches "Lock Down" Technology During The Global Pandemic. Available electronically from https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/197075
This report analyzes data collected from 2700 churches of the Center for Congregations in Indianapolis through the Connect Through Tech grant program between 2020-2021. This report analyzes data gathered from applications to the CTT grant and final reports submitted by these churches, in order to learn how churches understand and perceive the role of churches, technology, and their relationship changed during the first two years of the pandemic as they incorporated digital media into their ministry work. The “Mission to Serve Tech” report explores three key themes: (1) how leaders understanding of the mission of the church may have changed during the pandemic, (2) the general understanding of how churches conceptualize the relationship between church and technology before and then later during the pandemic, and (3) the ways technology created both unique opportunities and new challenges that cause churches perceptions and actions to shift in new ways. Important findings of this report include that most churches (84.7%) used their grant funds to purchase live-streaming services and camera/video equipment (82%).