One year into the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, churches have taken to the internet like never before to conduct worship services, foster community and encourage spiritual growth from a distance. That means even churches with no experience with digital ministry have been faced with the challenge of figuring out how to pray online together. Could digital group prayer experiences be a feature of the post-COVID-19 “new normal?”

Barna Group has been studying U.S. adults’ openness to digital church engagement through a study of the State of Digital Church, answering questions like: What works and what doesn’t in a hybrid church context? How many churchgoers are actually attending online church right now? Are churchgoers open to inviting their friends and family to digital church services?

Now, we conclude our series on the State of Digital Church with the new journal Five Questions Church Every Leader Should Ask About Digital Prayer, produced in partnership with Alpha. Overall, our team has learned that, while there are still multiple hurdles to digital church participation, those who do engage prayerfully in this worship context report meaningful shared experiences and encounters with God.

Sixty-Eight Percent of Christians Are Willing to Engage in Online Prayer Steady, positive engagement in prayer in general has given way to openness to new digital forums for prayer. More than two-thirds of Christians (68%) say they are a least somewhat open to actively participating in a time of prayer during an online church service gathering. This more than doubles the percentage of non-Christians who express such openness. Still, that means one in three adults outside Christianity (32%)—and even one-quarter of those with no faith at all (23%)—would still consider participation in digital times of prayer with a church.

Does professed interest translate to activity? To answer this, we must also acknowledge that there are still few opportunities to satisfy this curiosity. Many churches are new to hosting online services, let alone other digital or hybrid gatherings that emphasize group prayer. Most adults who have attended churches providing online services through the pandemic (60%) say this is the only digital activity through their church. Additionally, we know that, among those who have actually watched church online during the pandemic, . Where engagement with digital prayer or other aspects of COVID-era church life lag, we’re likely observing a lack of church options, a lack of congregant participation or both.