Online Worship: What Is Your Church Doing to Reach the Digital Church Hopper?

Has the "Netflix" era of worship arrived?

In other words, have we entered a new era of church, where Christians choose from multiple different worship experiences, often streaming services from more than one congregation? YouTube seems to think so. Each Sunday, I see a dozen or more churches on my YouTube home feed, each beckoning me to click their live stream. Rather than immediately connecting me to my local church, YouTube freely provides me with a carousel of congregational choice.

The congregational carousel reflects a broader trend of ministry multi-tasking. In a trend that has shown remarkable durability in the post-pandemic church, Americans continue to stream the worship services of more than one congregation. Pew Research Data from 2023 finds that nearly 40% of US adults who attend worship services online report watching services from more than one congregation. Participating in the worshipping life of multiple faith communities would have been unusual before 2020. Among American Christians who regularly worship online, the Netflix experience has now become typical.

Digital church-hopping is here to stay. Evangelicals, Catholics, and Mainline Protestants who worship online are tuning into more than one church service. They're tuning in to local and non-local churches, those in their neighborhood and those who seek a global audience. While the reasons for online church-hopping are varied, the online church-hopper has become a fixture of the church in a tech-shaped culture. Today, just 26% of online viewers watch services only from their home church.

There are two important caveats to this data. First, the number of online viewers is a relatively small slice of the American Christians. As of 2022, just 12% of Americans attended church exclusively online. 22% of Protestants attended services both online and offline. So while the online church-hopper is an important trend, it's impact is confined to those who regularly attend services on the web. The second caveat of this data is that the church-hopper represents a highly-engaged segment of America's Christian population. Religious "Nones," about whom much has been written, likely aren't church hoppers.

With these caveats in mind, we might view church-hopping as more of a challenging trend than an opportunity for growth. As Christians increase the quantity of churches they attend, it will likely decrease the quality of their engagement. This trend reflects a pivot from depth of participation to breadth of consumption.

Church-hopping invites Christians to be more selective, empowering the church-goer to constantly evaluate which churches match their theological convictions, denominational preferences, and increasingly their political leanings. It also invites the church-goer to find a community with preaching, liturgy, and music that is attuned to their personal preferences. This inevitably places competitive pressures on clergy and church leaders.

Given these challenges, today's church leader might experience pressure to constantly recalibrate the direction of their ministry to the needs and preferences of an ever-changing set of worship attendees. It's well documented that clergy and church leaders already resource-constrained and under duress. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research found in Fall of 2023 that 53% of clergy had seriously considered leaving the ministry.

Digital church-hopping may not prove to be the major stressor for all faith leaders, but we can already conclude that this trend won't alleviate the stressors facing today's priests and pastors. Digital ministry has done a great deal of good for the church. The Christian message is more accessible and inclusive than it was before the pandemic. However, any account of the impact of digital ministry must reckon with the lasting reality of "Netflix for Church."

So what can a congregation do to reach the online church-hopper? For starters, continue to acknowledge the presence of online attendees through language and liturgy. A simple word of welcome at the start of the service, or during the announcements, affirms the presence of the digital attendee.

Then, consider what makes your congregation's online experience unique. What might inspire someone to tune-in? A stellar sermon? An impressive organist or rock band vocalist? An inclusive expression of liturgy? Whatever it is, highlight this uniqueness in your digital messaging. Clarify why a church-hopper might want to select your congregation from the carousel of options available to them.

Finally, remember the importance of online worship in your congregation's pathway to involvement. 50-60% of in-person church visitors first connect online, through digital worship, a website, or social media. While digital ministry requires considerable effort to sustain, it is an essential first step in connecting with visitors and potential new members - even those who are actively church-hopping.