Research Exclusive
Church & Tech Trends
"QR Code Menus Are the Death of Civilization"
"How Menu QR Codes Became an Essential Tool For Every Restaurant And Bar"
"QR Menus Are Good. No, Seriously"
This sample range of headlines characterizes the public's view regarding the rise of QR codes - a direct response to the need for contactless service during the COVID-19 pandemic. This exemplified how technology can modernize established experiences.
Similarly, church life has undergone a transformation, embracing online platforms, digital giving, hybrid services, and interactive apps to connect with people in a rapidly evolving world.
It’s important to ask questions about these developments—and Barna has been busy doing just that. Whether we’re asking congregants about their ideas about artificial intelligence (AI) or asking pastors about the internet tools that inform their leadership, there is a both / and pattern: When it comes to the Church, a blend of digital innovation and in-person ministry has its place.
In the State of the Church initiative we are embarking on with our partners at Gloo, perhaps no other topic is as quickly evolving as digital ministry—an of-the-moment perspective is challenging to pin down! Yet, perhaps no other topic points to more promise and growth. Here are some of the top trends emerging from our recent studies about technology and the Church.
Trend 1: Christians Say Churches Could Benefit From More Robust Digital Tools
The social distancing era of the pandemic only accelerated an already emerging trend of digital transformation within faith communities. Today, Christians recognize the importance of leveraging digital tools for ministry, and most feel churches could benefit from embracing tech in more advanced ways.
Barna research conducted in partnership with Gloo reveals a strong majority of Christians say churches could benefit from tools like online giving (76%) and a digital resource hub (74%), as well as better social media outreach (70%) and digital communication strategies (69%). Outside of technology, Christians highly encourage networking between churches and leaders.
n=600 U.S. adult Christians, May 21–31, 2024
Pastors show a degree of openness to more technological integration, including the use of AI. Over half (54%) believe AI could positively contribute to church outreach and community service efforts, and two in five (42%) feel their church could benefit from incorporating AI technology into church strategy. Still, this confidence is tempered by significant uncertainty. Data shows pastors don’t think their congregants are very open to AI integration, nor have a grasp on the ethical implications of AI.
The research points to a critical need for churches to not only implement digital strategies but also to build trust, provide education and create meaningful digital experiences that resonate with congregants.
While there’s broad recognition of the need for digital transformation in the Church, a significant gap remains between aspiration and implementation. Churches will need to carefully navigate AI integration, prioritize digital literacy and maintain the human aspects of their mission to successfully adapt this evolving technology.
This shift goes beyond merely adopting new tools and represents a broader understanding of how churches can remain relevant and accessible in an increasingly digital world.
n=278 U.S. Protestant pastors, January 3–4, 2024
Trend 2: Churchgoers Want Pastors to Talk About Using AI Wisely
Navigating today’s digital world often means leveraging new tools to help us live out our most fundamental needs and values. With this, the Church has a chance to be a conduit of understanding, guiding people to use technology as a bridge to deeper, more meaningful relationships and experiences.
In an era of rapid technological changes, churches sit at the critical crossroad of innovation and spirituality. Barna’s ongoing Faith & AI research, conducted in partnership with Gloo, reveals curiosity, caution and potential, especially surrounding AI and the Church.
While there’s much concern about this technology (for example, nearly half of U.S. adults worry that AI could increase human isolation and threaten job security), data among churchgoers reveals an opportunity: 42 percent of church attendees want to hear from their pastor about using AI wisely.
Additionally, one in three (34%) wants to know how AI is being used in their church, and one in five (20%) is even open to their pastor addressing how AI might help them understand the Bible.
n=559 U.S. adults, November 21–27, 2023
For pastors, the data presents a unique way to champion human flourishing and thriving churches. While technology can create distance, it can also be a powerful tool for connection when approached with wisdom and intentionality.
Trend 3: Is AI a Faithful tool? Practicing Christian Gen Z Are Unsure
We are only seeing the beginning of how a tech-savvy generation will develop their faith in AI—as a credible source of spiritual knowledge or a space in which they might live out their values.
In Barna’s recent report created in partnership with Impact 360, Gen Z Volume 3, we find that some practicing Christian Gen Z have a conflicted response to AI. Though they are more likely than other generations to be using AI, they are torn on whether AI is useful in building community (17%) or hurting community (15%). While their peers of other faiths lead the way with excitement about AI (46%) and a belief that AI can be objective (26%), constructive (29%), useful for connecting people (27%) and necessary (24%), practicing Christians have middling hopes for AI on these points. At the extremes, practicing Christians are the most likely faith group among Gen Z to believe that AI is bad for people (21%).
Perhaps this is why Christian Gen Z are both open to AI but cautious about turning to AI as an authority on religious matters. Practicing Christians are more likely than those of no faith to say that it is wrong to use AI to answer questions about religion (33% vs. 23%). The same is true for learning about different perspectives on religion; 27 percent of practicing Christians say it is wrong, compared with only 17 percent of those with no faith. (Gen Z who belong to other faiths fall in the middle on these points).
If Christian Gen Z aren’t often turning to tech for answers about religious questions and understanding other religious perspectives, where are they searching for these answers? They could be looking in a number of places.
One thing we do know from the data: Over half of Gen Z strongly agree that in-person relationships are more valuable than digital relationships (54%), and another three in 10 (30%) somewhat agree. Being part of a faith community may reinforce the importance of in-person relationships, even for young people.
Given this, it’s important for church leaders and parents to remember that Gen Z’s faith identity may impart some intentionality to their relationships, both in person and online. And even as ministries embrace technology to keep pace with digitally native generations, there are aspects of discipleship that young people may not want to move to devices.
Trend 4: In Times of Struggle, People Turn to Familiarity Before Technology
Spaces can affect us physically (e.g., stimulating vs. calming), emotionally (e.g., feeling safe vs. insecure) and spiritually (e.g., more or less connected with God), and these effects are tied to why we choose to visit some spaces over others.
For Barna’s Making Space for Inspiration report, created in partnership with Aspen Group, researchers offered respondents a list of places and asked them to choose where they would prefer to go when experiencing certain emotions like loneliness, depression and anxiety.
When it comes to processing feelings of loneliness, the home is a common ground. U.S. adults are “very likely” to visit somewhere in their own home (50%), a family member’s house (43%) or a friend’s house (42%) if they feel lonely. Three in 10 (30%) say they are very likely to visit a church if they are feeling lonely. Some adults also say they would turn to their online community (18% very likely), but this response is the least frequently chosen of all the responses presented in the survey.
Barna also asked U.S. adults a similar question related to where they’d go when facing feelings of depression. While personal homes and those of loved ones rank higher on the list, 31 percent of U.S. adults say they’d visit a church. Just 15 percent say they’d be very likely to turn to their online community.
Americans would rather turn to places that are familiar to them, places that offer human connection—their homes, a friend’s home, a church—than an online, digital community.
Proximity and access seem to be major factors in the places people want to be when in certain moods. Whether or not they are the first stop, churches should ensure they represent similar environments that can welcome people who are emotionally weary.
Trend 5: Despite Advances in Tech, Pastors Prefer Traditional Tools & Resources
Barna’s Faith & AI research gives a glimpse into how pastors gather information to help their ministry and leadership. Though digital education and resources are common, other, more personal tools come first in forming pastors as leaders.
While over half of pastors (54%) use internet research, and one in three (36%) leverages Christian internet resources, these digital sources are supplementary rather than primary.
Scripture remains the cornerstone of pastoral leadership, with an overwhelming 85 percent of pastors citing this as their primary source of guidance. Growing technological advances have not replaced the significance of the Bible for today’s senior church leaders.
Equally compelling is the collaborative nature of ministerial development. Nearly 80 percent of pastors rely on their peers, obtaining critical information from other pastors they know. This collaborative approach extends to how they lead in church, with half of pastors drawing insights from other leaders within their own church, and nearly half (48%) incorporating feedback directly from congregants.
Though digital technologies are increasingly integrated into how pastors get their information, this has not displaced more personal, collaborative and traditional methods of learning and leadership development.
The research paints a picture of ministry leadership that is adaptive yet deeply rooted in traditional communication and learning methods. Technology serves as a complementary tool rather than a replacement for personal interaction, communal learning and spiritual reflection.
This approach suggests that pastors are strategically incorporating digital resources while maintaining the core collaborative and spiritual essence of their leadership.
n=278 U.S. Protestant pastors, January 3–4, 2024.
Only the top six and bottom six responses are charted.
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