Only a month ago, as part of our State of the Church project, Barna revealed evidence of what we were calling “worship shifting,” the tendency to rely on digital spiritual tools (such as podcasts, streamed sermons, radio, etc.) instead of attending a church service at a set time and in person. We shared new data showing 22 percent of practicing Christians—and 52 percent of practicing Christian Millennials—say they replace traditional church in this way regularly, at least half the time.

How quickly the lens through which we view these findings has changed; as social distancing has gone into effect to quell the spread of COVID-19, digital disruption has affected faith communities on an unprecedented scale.

Currently, Barna’s weekly national surveys of pastors (as well as responses from those participating in the ChurchPulse Weekly check-ins) have pointed to the reality that this forced transition away from physical worship spaces was not one many ministries were completely ready for: a quarter of U.S. pastors (26%) surveyed during March 20-23, shortly after social distancing began, said their greatest priority for their church was putting in place technology solutions for streaming services and / or online giving. In data collected April 7-13, we found that nearly half of pastors (47%) don’t expect to be back in their buildings until May, with another 35 percent holding out hope for June—though 43 percent assume the circumstances surrounding the pandemic could still worsen (9% much worse, 34% a little worse), a harsh reality that adds even more unease to the current mental and emotional health of both pastors and their congregants.

Over the years, Barna has had several opportunities to research practicalities and perceptions of where American Christians come together. In this article, we’ll summarize how we’ve built an understanding of church buildings and look toward the future of worship spaces.

New- & Old-Fashioned: Where Millennials Want to Worship In , based on a study conducted in partnership with Cornerstone Knowledge Network, we learned that young adults—a group whose relationship to institutional Church is already tenuous—preferred what could be seen as a historic standard for churches: communal rather than private (78% vs. 22%), sanctuaries rather than auditoriums (77% vs. 23%), classic rather than trendy (67% vs. 33%). Yet, they described their “ideal” church as casual (64%), relaxed (60%) and modern (60%), not so much traditional (40%).