The latest National Congregations study, Congregations in 21st Century America,  was released yesterday. Posting survey results since 1998, this study “...contains a wealth of information about multiple aspects of congregational life, including worship, leadership and staffing, ethnic diversity, technology, civic engagement, and much more. On all of these subjects, the report documents what is changing, what is staying the same, and the differences that exist among religious groups.” 

    

You can find the study with this link.

I’ve valued the research over the years and have used it in my workshops and courses, as well as in my books, Silver Screen, Sacred Story: Using Multimedia in Worship (2002), and Feeding Imaginations: Worship That Engages (2015).

   

Since I've advocated using screens and projectors over many years, I'm encouraged by the latest information that 46% of churches are now using them, and that in addition to song lyrics (42%) and sermon outlines, some have used video (18%).

   

In the future it would be interesting to see how many churches also use art, photography, and other imagery on screen, and Mark Chaves, director of the study, has indicated to me that they will consider this.

  

Using visuals (more than just words) on screen is still the next level for many churches, but, I fear, most clergy are vaguely suspicious of using visuals (iconoclastic theologies) or just haven't been trained in how to understand, and preach, with visual language.  

  

It's been my view that younger generations who know visual language just don't find it in church, partly explaining why worship has little interest for them.  As Mark Chaves wrote in his report on the 1998 study, "...producing worship in the United States means getting people together to sing and listen to somebody talk."  Has this changed much? The above chart from the NCS shows congregations are adding a bit more than that to worship these days, with projection equipment the biggest change.

  

Zoom worship has opened up new possibilities for sharing imagery and video clips, and it'll be interesting to see post-Covid surveys on use of screens as well as what kinds of visual content, if any, were added.