The majority of U.S. adults say that the coronavirus pandemic has not increased their faith, according to a study released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.
The study, conducted in late April, found that, while people are far more likely to have clung more tightly to religion than not, most say that their faith is unchanged. Only 24% reported an increase, while 2% said their faith is weaker. About 50% said that their faith is unchanged. The remainder said that the question does not apply to them because they are not religious.
Among some Christians, the likelihood of an increase is higher, with 56% of black Protestants and 42% of white evangelicals reporting in the affirmative. For Catholics and mainline Protestants, that number is below 30%.
When the pandemic in March began prompting governments to declare widespread lockdowns, many people reported praying for an end to the virus. At that time, 57% of churchgoers told Pew that their churches had replaced in-person services with online services. The number of churches without in-person services has risen to about 90%, the new report found, with about 80% offering streaming.
In March, internet searches for “prayer” and “God” spiked to their highest levels in the past five years. A study released from the University of Copenhagen said that the sharp increase likely correlated with the growing number of people pledging to pray during the pandemic. The report referred to the response as “religious coping.”
But, even as more people say they are praying and now that most churches have moved online, an April report from the American Enterprise Institute found that fewer than 30% of people are watching streamed services. That low number is likely due to the fact that many people find in-person interactions more meaningful, according to Daniel Cox, a research fellow at AEI.
“Most of the research on social interaction and influence says that in-person interactions are more influential, meaningful, and memorable than those online,” he said. “This is likely true for worship as well.”
