The conclusions of two studies done by professors at Georgetown University in Washington were not what people expected. Because of the impact of the Internet and various other new electronic media, there was great hope that the church would be able to connect with many who are not frequently in the pews by using these new outlets.
But studies done in 2011 and 2012 by the Center for Applied Research at Georgetown found only a handful of people (percentage wise) follow their local church or their denomination or even religion/spirituality via digital communications.
“Putting something on the Internet is a dramatically different delivery system with an entirely different numbers game,” the 2012 report stated. “No one will see it unless they search for it or are directed there by a site or social network they already use. When it comes to building new media — getting online and posting content — there is far from any guarantee that people will show up and see it.”
Both studies dealt specifically with Roman Catholics. The 2011 study examined “Catholic Media Use in the United States.” The 2012 study looked at “Catholic New Media Use in the United States.” The findings provide information that Christians of every denomination should consider.
Only 9 percent of respondents reported visiting their local church website as often as once a month. The percentage who said they regularly used their local church website was 4 percent. Those who followed blogs dealing with Roman Catholics, the Christian faith or with spirituality made up 5 percent of respondents.
By contrast, five times as many participants said they read a religious or spiritual newspaper or magazine in print during the last three months as reported reading similar material online (18 percent for print and 3 percent for digital). Seven times as many people said they read a religious or spiritual book in print in the last three months than read similar material in digital format (14 percent for print and 2 percent for digital).
Thirty-nine percent of adult church members reported reading their diocesan newspaper in the last three months. Only 1 percent reported reading the paper in digital format only.
Concerning websites, 14 percent said they visited at least one Roman Catholic-related website in the last three months.
To the surprise of many, Millennials (those born in 1982 or later) did not express overwhelming preferences for online content. About a third of the responders indicated a preference for online content (32 percent) while another third preferred reading print (33 percent). The other 35 percent expressed no preference.
“Millennials are generally no more likely than older Catholics to say they have done anything online or through the use of e-readers related to religion or spirituality,” a summary of the 2012 report stated.
In fact, “the typical Catholic who uses Facebook for religion and spirituality is not a Millennial at all. It is a non-Hispanic, White, divorced woman born between 1943–1960 living in a home in the Midwest with an income between $85,000–$100,000.”
Millennials certainly use the Internet and digital media more than other generations. That generation averages more than three and a half hours a day online. Baby Boomers devote about two-thirds that amount of time to online activity. But Millennials do not seem to use the media in relationship to religion and faith. Only 6 percent, the study said, had ever looked at religion-related videos on YouTube, for example.
Sixty-seven percent of Millennials said they had not accessed anything related to their church, religion or spirituality in the past three months.
General interest in news of the church seems to be waning, the study found. During 2012, Internet searches containing the word “Catholic” were down 37 percent from the search volumes of January 2004, the study reported.
Matthew Schiller, business manager for Catholic New York, connected the decline to the digital revolution. He said, “Basically the study found that when the church converted its distribution of news from print to online, there was a direct correlation with less giving, less volunteers and fewer (people) in the seats.” That is a powerful statement.
Before the digital revolution the church could put a copy of its church bulletin or the denominational newspaper in a person’s hand or mailbox. From there it made its way onto the family’s coffee table or counter top. The U.S. Postal Service found that almost 98 percent of customers bring their mail into their homes the day it arrives.
There it becomes one of just a few other things that could be read. Because of its direct connection to the reader through his or her church, a church bulletin or denominational newspaper has a high chance of being read, studies found.
Today readership of church and denominational news has fallen as the two Catholic studies documented and so have offerings, volunteers and participants. Which caused the other is a chicken-or-the egg problem, but there is no denying the relationship.
The two Georgetown University studies of Roman Catholics in the United States clearly show that relying on online communications as the primary strategy for enlisting and involving church members in church and denominational activities is failing. Equally frustrating is counting on a website or blog to reach new people or to educate already reached people.
Websites, blogs, Facebook, tweets, digital editions — all are important but it is a mistake to place high expectations that any single one or all together will solve the church’s communication challenges.
Churches would do well to take note of what businesses have already learned. Single media contact is not an effective communications strategy. Using a multichannel strategy gets the best results. Several studies document that print media continues to outperform electronic communications. But when the two mediums are combined, the results outpace what either can do alone.
Holding to the hope of connecting with many who infrequently or never sit in our pews is a genuine ideal. But there is no silver bullet that will make it happen. At the very least, we should learn from these studies that the church has to use all the tools available so “that by all means we may win some” (1 Cor. 9:22).
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