“God forbids same sex relations.” “We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
These are two real comments found on the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and New Beginnings Community Church Tik Tok accounts, which post about events, news updates, and clips from their services. When examining the accounts of these two churches, several other comments can be found underneath their videos.
These kinds of comments reflect the darker side of social media’s impact on religion — the harsher and more critical aspects of the online environment.
However, this is only one part of the picture. There is also an opposing side that shows how social media has supported religion in surprising ways.
“It’s not up to us to rely on social media, advertisements, or mailers to get people in the door. It’s up to us to build relationships with people and say, ‘This is why this community is important to us. If this is of interest to you, come on down,’” said Rev. Joshua Serrano at Holy Lutheran Church in San Carlos.
The red horns
At the core of many of these issues is the fact that church attendance has been in decline for decades. Attendance reached its lowest point in 2022, with 20% of Americans attending church weekly, a 12% decrease from 2000, according to ChurchTrac, a software for churches.
“Besides a new guest or two every couple of months, there hasn’t been an uptick in folks coming to our church. That’s really interesting that Christianity has leveled out because in the last two generations, especially among mainline churches, church attendance has been on a pretty steep decline in its trajectory,” Serrano said.
In an effort to keep up with the changing times and account for the decline in attendance, churches have turned to social media to promote their services. However, switching from paper to digital has proved a challenge and a source of annoyance for many churches.
According to Brill Publishers, since the COVID-19 pandemic forced all services online, churches have been experiencing a digital divide, particularly in terms of skills, literacy, and resources.
“We’re not sophisticated with our social media usage. One of the struggles is getting the time to produce content that’s actually engaging and meaningful to people. I don’t really have the bandwidth to produce content for it. Everyone I’ve talked to is still figuring social media out, so it’s definitely a newer thing for churches,” said Rev. Brian Ferguson at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Redwood City.
Moreover, churches must not only deal with the challenges of technology, but they also contend with automated comments and trolls online.
According to the Vocation Network, there are thousands of religion-based bots spamming hundreds of comments a day across multiple platforms, and often using religious usernames to blend in. These bots’ online goal is to spread conspiracy-style narratives, inflame discussions, and misrepresent Catholic life.
“Too often our algorithms reinforce bad behavior, and there are a lot of bots out there,” Serrano said.
This relationship can go either way; sometimes it is not the viewer sending hate, but the creator. According to the Global Network on Extremism and Technology, one trending movement that has thousands of videos posted on the subject is the Christian Identity Movement. The videos on social media about this topic seek to convince viewers that white people are not only God’s favorites but the only pure believers of him.
The halo
Social media isn’t just a home for negativity. It can also foster a positive environment for sharing support for various religions. According to the Universal Life Church, social media can be a valuable tool for reaching a broader audience with religious messages. By sharing inspirational messages, Bible quotes, and personal anecdotes, social media can foster interactive engagement and a sense of community around faith.
“I love the direction that social media is going in for Christians. I love that people are able to share the gospel in the way they want to online,” said Taylor Duncan, the head of social media at New Beginnings Community Church in Redwood City.
Religious social media services can also serve as a tool to provide more access to online worship for those who would otherwise be unable to attend church. According to the Pew Research Center, 21% of American adults use apps or websites to read the Bible or other religious scriptures, and 7% participate in online prayer and services.
“It’s more convenient for people under 45 who are always online. And other people who might be traveling, such as parents with young children, may be unable to leave the house that month due to various reasons. There are people for whom it is more convenient because they don’t like crowds,” Ferguson said.
Even though religion has been steadily decreasing for decades in the U.S., according to a study by the Pew Research Center, the number of Christians in America has leveled off. In 2007, 78% of Americans identified as Christian; this percentage dropped to around 60% at a steady rate until 2022, when it began to increase to its current level of 62%.
“There are these moments in history where Christianity sees an upsurge in attendance, and it takes on new iterations. We might be seeing that right now. I’ve been noticing a trend of interest in Catholicism or Orthodoxy,” Serrano said.
With this resurgence in religiosity comes more adaptability in traditional religion. According to a study conducted by Baylor University, social media users are 50-80% more likely to show flexibility in religious beliefs and practices. The biggest show of religious flexibility is around Christmas time, where 81% of non-religious Americans celebrate Christmas, a traditionally Christian holiday, according to Lingoda.
“There are 12 days of Christmas from Christmas to Epiphany. Before that, it’s called Advent, and that’s really busy. Everybody starts coming back to church during that time,” Serrano said.
Although there are many positives and negatives to social media’s influence on religion, some choose not to focus on the cons and instead maintain a positive outlook.
“I definitely think that there are pros and cons to everything. But I don’t want to sit and talk about the cons. Our motto at New Beginnings Community Church is that everyone matters to God, so everyone matters to us. Why don’t we choose kindness? Why don’t we choose grace? That’s where we should take a stance as people,” Duncan said.
