NYC Churches See Positive Outcomes from Transitioning to Online Worship

Last week Sunday, May 17, Christine Croasdaile, 25, spent the day worshipping at 3 different church services—all within the span of a few hours. Before her day was finished, she had experienced 3 sermons and still had time to complete her personal obligations.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Croasdaile, a young adult lay servant at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Brooklyn, attends services every Sunday behind a computer screen—a transition that she says comes with its perks.

“You can literally tune into the word of God anytime you want now,” said Croasdaile. She asserts that she also now has the flexibility to attend more than one service—and she’s not alone.

Since the start of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s stay-at-home order, many churches have seen significant spikes in service attendance. For many, the transition to online worship provides wider accessibility.

“It normalizes the understanding that we’re not in this alone,” said Croasdaile.

Rev. Dr. Kirkpatrick Cohall, senior pastor of the Lenox Road Baptist Church in Brooklyn says the church’s attendance numbers have almost tripled after expanding their online presence to multiple outlets including Zoom, Facebook, and Youtube.

“We’ve had people from all over the country tune in, they feel just as connected to the church as those right here in Brooklyn,” said Cohall.

Back in mid-March, New York City had seen almost 17,000 confirmed coronavirus cases. With that number rapidly increasing, Governor Cuomo mandated a statewide lockdown—a move that may have initially brought some concern to those who value face to face interaction.

Benjamin Meagher, a social psychologist at Hope College asserted in a study that being in a particular space can have a significant impact on a person’s emotional experience.

“There is no such thing as neutral, empty space-wherever you are, you are in a particular place that has psychological meaning,” says Meagher.

For places of worship, this concept is particularly significant as religious edifices have always remained a critical aspect of spiritual growth. So the new stay-at-home order did raise some concerns for church leaders.

“I was not as prepared as I could have been. I was not trained for online worship in seminary,” said Dr. Charles Galbreath, Senior Pastor of Clarendon Road Church in Brooklyn.

Transitioning to virtual church also meant adjusting to the limitations of a virtual world. As Zoom meetings and conference calls continue to take up a majority of our time, health experts warn of possible “Zoom fatigue.”

"When we're on all these videos calls all day long, we're kind of chained to a screen," said Suzanne Degges-White, a licensed counselor and chair of counseling and counselor education at Northern Illinois University.

Aware of this reality, Dr. Cohall changed the changed the duration of his church’s weekly services from two and a half hours to approximately one hour and 15 minutes, eliminating the aspects of the services that he considers to be extraneous.

Another challenge that some churches faced in transitioning to online services was acquiring the most effective technological resources. Pastor Galbreath has had to officially expand Clarendon Road Church’s audio/visual staff in order for the church to meet all of the necessary online requirements.

“Before it was just a stage and a camera. When it’s a virtual medium we have to do so much more,” he said. He also initially received some pushback when discussing the possible transition to online worship, because of all that it could entail, technologically. But for Galbreath the positive outcomes always prevail.

He says that meeting virtually has increased community service involvement, as the church’s physical building is now being used to host food giveaways, guidance for medication assistance, and to deliver resources to senior citizens. Clarendon Road Church continues to receive donations from its members and beyond, to which the social ministry facilitates outreach efforts.

Galbreath says that this continued connection to the community reinforces what he has always believed to be the mission of the church—remaining a source of discipleship and hope, in what many consider to be a sobering time.

“Our role is always a place of hope, healing, and prophetic visioning,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for us to lean into the faith experience that we live out each and every day.”

During a recent White House press conference, President Trump encouraged Governors to allow churches to reopen, declaring them places that “provide essential services.” But some still think it may be too soon.

“I’m not risking my health for that. You don’t need to be in a physical church setting to pray,” said Croasdaile.

In a statement to his congregation, following Trump’s comments, Pastor Galbreath said that he will continue to hold church services online.

“Any decisions and announcements about reopening in-person will be made in consultation with the Metropolitan District of the C&MA, NYC governance, and healthcare and sanitation experts to ensure that we are opening safely, responsibly, and biblically.”