Divinity in the Virtual World: A Journal of Reformation

In the spring of 2020, churches around the world began to close their doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The question arose, “How are we to worship together?” 

For many churches the answer was one word. Online. Pastors and church leaders quickly became their community’s tech guru. Churches that already had online streaming began doubling down on investment. 

Now the year is 2025, and most churches that began or ramped up their online engagement have not scaled back. Zoom gatherings gave way to posting pre-recorded worships on Sunday mornings. Pre-recording gave way to live streaming. And now, live-streaming is giving way to social media strategy, communication coordination, branding, and more. 

Speaking from my own experience as a pastor, the fastest growing parts of my job is content creation for social media and website management. Recently my church went through a self-study examining our programs and engagement with the community. After months of interviews, observation note-taking, site visits, and data analysis, our consultant found that one of our biggest areas for growth was with our “online presence.” 

The recommendation was to “discuss enhancing the church’s online presence.” The consultant explained, “Although the pandemic is over, respondents still reported the use of technologies if they were unable to attend Sunday services. Given the missional values of the church, we wonder if it could invest time and energy to extend its dynamic ministries into virtual spaces.” I assume that many churches would receive similar recommendations.

At first I greeted this recommendation with joy. I view social media as a way to reach younger people. It can be a creative outlet beyond sermon writing or planning youth groups. It is one more way to get the message out about our values and mission, upcoming events, and recent endeavors. I knew that it would take more effort and work hours, some extra volunteers, and more. Nonetheless, it seemed worth the effort.