During the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been plenty of discussion around whether digital ministry options should be treated as temporary solutions or new fixtures of church life. Digital methods of facilitating group prayer have potential to meet unique needs during times of distance, but should also be seen as catalysts for or extensions of a holistic prayer life. Our pandemic-era research points to ways digital group prayer not only correlates with meaningful experiences but also fits alongside other expressions in a broader posture of prayer.

To understand how digital group prayer can fit, let’s zoom in on the Christians who have already made it a part of their prayer practices. First, a notable non-difference: Christians who participate in digital group prayer are no more likely than others to report praying regularly on their own; they track with other Christians, with 67 percent engaged in daily personal prayer. This group is also mostly made up of Millennials, a generation less likely to have a daily prayer habit.

However, major patterns of difference occur when it comes to enthusiasm for and experiences around prayer. Indeed, we see emotions like connection, energy, excitement and enlightenment being closely tied to prayer activity for Christians who have some proclivity for digital corporate prayer, more so than for those who only engage in in-person group prayer. Between the numbers are glimpses of effusive spirituality, reaching upward and outward, through various modes and moods—intercessory, experiential, vulnerable, communal and expectant.

On the flip side, Christians who have only experienced in-person group prayer this year—primarily Boomers—are less likely to report a number of other meaningful prayer activities, in terms of what they pray for, who they pray with, how they feel during prayer and what happens as they pray. As you might expect from this digitally disconnected group, these are Christians who are more likely to have dropped out of church attendance in general during the pandemic. Granted that a lack of program options or access can pose hurdles beyond a Christian’s control, this insular segment seems to need an argument for or a pathway to stronger church community and spiritual vigor—before and beyond any specific engagement with digital prayer gatherings.