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Spremembe v slovenskih religijskih skupnostih po pandemični izkušnji

Posted on October 6, 2023 - 1:46 pm by Recovira

Katja K. Ošljak and Simona Kuntarič Zupanc, Researchers, University of Ljubljana

V začetku septembra se je slovenska ekipa projekta Recovira udeležila 20. konference Evropskega religiološkega združenja (European Association for the Study of Religions, krajše EASR). Skupaj s sodelavkami in sodelavci projekta Recovira smo sodelovali na panelu Religijske skupnosti v virtualni dobi in predstavili preliminarne rezultate mednarodne raziskave, ki jo financira konzorcij CHANSE. S kombinacijo netnografije, terenskih opazovanj in intervjujev z različnimi kategorijami pripadnikov izbranih skupnosti projekt sistematično preučuje, kako verniki sprejemajo nove načine digitalnega komuniciranja, razmerje med uradnimi smernicami (nacionalnimi in mednarodnimi) posamezne religijske skupnosti in kako jih sprejemajo člani v svojem vsakdanjem religijskem življenju.

Aleš Črnič je v uvodu pojasnil specifike slovenske študije

Slovenske rezultate sta predstavljala Aleš Črnič in Simona Kuntarič Zupanc, njun prispevek pa je osvetljeval spremembe, ki jih doživljajo lokalne religijske skupnosti po pandemični izkušnji, ki je pospešila uporabo digitalnih medijev tudi na področju religije. V predstavitvi sta se osredotočila na pospešeno udomačevanje digitalnih tehnologij znotraj treh različnih verskih skupnosti v Sloveniji skozi tri študije primerov: 1) tradicionalna in prevladujoča rimskokatoliška cerkev, 2) manjšinska a uveljavljena islamska skupnost ter 3) manjša, novejša in manj uveljavljena skupnost Hare Krišna. Aleš in Simona sta predstavila začetne ugotovitve, na podlagi katerih bomo skozi nadaljnje analize skušali prispevati k razumevanju kompleksnih sprememb na področju religije od pandemije dalje s posebnim poudarkom na sprejemanju oziroma vključevanju digitalnih medijev in komuniciranja. Prvi rezultati na podlagi študij primerov kažejo, da so za vodstva religijskih ustanov digitalni mediji med pandemijo postali most do njihovih skupnosti, po covidu pa jih lahko nekateri razumejo celo kot grožnjo, ki bi vernike oddaljila od pristnega religioznega in skupnostnega življenja.

Simona Kuntarič Zupanc je predstavila fenomen novih digitalnih avtoritet znotraj religijskih skupnosti.

Rimskokatoliška skupnost

Prva študija primera obravnava tradicionalno prevladujočo Rimskokatoliško cerkev, ki je tudi največja slovenska religijska skupnost in zaradi svojega dosega tudi najbolj demografsko pestra. Rimskokatoliška skupnost se je med pandemijo hitro prilagodila novim razmeram. Na številnih spletnih naslovih, kot so župnijska spletna mesta, Facebook in drugi družbeni mediji, so denimo predvajali prenose maš iz nekaterih župnij, pri čemer so uporabljali tudi profesionalizirane pristope in naprednejše naprave. Pospešek pa je prav tako dobilo formiranje t. i. novih digitalnih avtoritet oziroma vplivnežev, ki so prek interneta pričeli še intenzivneje nagovarjati svoja občinstva in občestvo.

Islamska skupnost

Islamska skupnost je manjšinska, a uveljavljena religijska skupnost v Sloveniji. Večino skupnosti sestavljajo priseljenci iz Bosne in Hercegovine, ki pa so v Sloveniji dobili prvo džamijo šele leta 2020 in to tik pred zaprtjem javnega življenja zaradi pandemije. Spletno komuniciranje Slovenske islamske skupnosti je izjemno formalno in zadržano – kot nakazujejo podatki tudi z namenom, da ne bi omogočali dodatnega prostora za reprodukcijo in širjenje obstoječih predsodkov zoper skupnost. Poleg tega odgovori intervjuvank in intervjuvancev razkrivajo distanco članov in članic skupnosti do uporabe digitalnih medijev v povezavi z religijskim življenjem.

Skupnost za zavest Krišne

S tretjo študijo primera proučujemo manj uveljavljeno novejšo religijsko manjšino Mednarodnega združenja za zavest Krišne (Hare Krišna), ki se je izkazala kot najbolj digitalizirana med tremi opazovanimi religijskimi skupnostmi. Razlog zato bi med drugim lahko iskali tudi v dejstvu, da gre za novo religijsko gibanje, za katerega je značilna organizacijska struktura »od spodaj navzgor«. Nova orodja oziroma digitalni mediji so jim omogočili, da tudi v postpandemičnem obdobju več skupnostne vsebine, obredja in drugih dogodkov doseže več pripadnikov tudi iz bolj oddaljenih krajev.

Med medijsko posredovanim in neposrednim stikom

Vse tri religijske skupnosti prepoznavajo prednosti uporabe digitalnih medijev, obenem pa poudarjajo pomen neposrednega osebnega stika. Poleg tega so njihovi pripadniki v intervjujih poročali o povečanem interesu za duhovnost med obdobjem pandemije. Specifično pa predstavniki Skupnosti za zavest Krišne poročajo o povečanju števila vernikov, ki so prisotni na spletu. Islamska skupnost v tem obdobju beleži večje število vernikov različnih nacionalnosti, kar je deloma posledica migracij v Slovenijo. Rimskokatoliška cerkev, ki je ob pandemiji zaznala prepolovitev udeležbe vernikov pri obredih (Poročilo Slovenske škofovske konference iz leta 2020), se trudi privabiti vernike nazaj v cerkve in se pri tem poslužuje tudi digitalnih medijev.

Studying religion means working Sundays

Posted on September 20, 2023 - 11:54 am by Recovira

Gero Menzel, Research Associate, Goethe University Frankfurt

Going into the first field, the Diocese of Limburg, I came prepared to also work Sundays. After deciding to postpone the second case, Islam, because field access turned out to be more complicated than expected, I moved on with our third case study on Hinduism, not expecting Sunday to become the focal point of my research activity again. But that’s how it was My contact person from our cooperation partner invited me to join her to visit the temple on Sunday.

The first thing I want to reflect on, is that researching religion, at least in many contexts, conflicts with the academic work schedule and with how we organize our ‘work-life-balance’. Sundays in Germany are usually regarded as days of non-work, days of leisure. At the same time, they are workdays for religious workers and it is a day of non-work or a day of informal work for visitors of religious services; the second being the role we tend to get assigned and/or accept as researchers.

The second thing I want to dwell on, is that when and on which days we conduct our research is also important. Our impression of the research field might be influenced drastically by when we visit. To generate a contrasting case for my research in the first case study, the Diocese of Limburg, I visited a week day service. It was a Tuesday service and it fit well into my work schedule. I could go there before heading to the office. The experience was completely different from Sundays; I was the youngest by far. Of course, while my schedule allowed me to go to Church on a Weekday morning, everybody else except retirees was not able to attend. So ethnographic research includes adapting our schedule to our research field or deciding why we deviate from our field’s usual schedule, be it for pragmatic or methodological reasons.

By getting to know the rhythm, the schedule of our field, we also learn something about it (Elliott et al., 2016). Which days are important in living religion and for whom? We have to ask, whose schedule or which sub-schedule are we adapting to? How far can we adapt with our personal life, our employment conditions?

Sunday being the day for communal, for religious gathering is linked to how Christianity shaped the work schedules in Germany and other Christian majority countries and still does, together with labor unions and other forces of civil society. By looking at when religious communities gather, we can learn about how they relate to the majority and other religious communities. In how far Sunday becomes the day for religious activities and gathering, might also show how religious communities might relate to European secularity sedimented in temporal orders. It might also show us how established religious communities are, by how far they are able to follow their own temporal orders.

Studying religion means navigating and reflecting the temporal practices.

References

Elliott, S., McKelvy, J. N., & Bowen, S. (2016). Marking time in ethnography: Uncovering temporal dispositions. Ethnography, 18(4), 556–576. https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138116655360

Image credit: Image provided by the author

An initial analysis of the Danish data

Posted on September 18, 2023 - 1:29 pm by Recovira

Anne Lundahl Mauritsen, Postdoctoral Researcher, Aarhus University

RECOVIRA-projektet skrider fremad, og i denne blogpost – det første af sin slags på dansk – giver vi et indblik i de fund, vi indtil videre har identificeret i de danske data. I vores sidste blogpost var vi i det første stadie af feltarbejdet og havde indsamlet data primært i den buddhistiske gruppe. Siden da har vi gennemført dataindsamling i en af kirkerne samt interviewet forskellige repræsentanter for andre religiøse grupper. Grupperne, som disse repræsentanter tilhører, bliver ikke genstand for feltarbejde, men disse mere fritstående interviews har alligevel givet en større bredde til projektet, i det flere grupper får en stemme. Vi har nu etableret kontakt til den næste kirke, hvor der skal indsamles data. Desværre har det vist sig svært at få en muslimsk gruppe til at deltage i projektet, men vi forsøger via forskellige netværk at se, om ikke det alligevel kan lade sig gøre.

For nu har vi altså indsamlet lidt over halvdelen af data, og vi kan således begynde at se nogle trends i materialet, om end vi ikke endnu har lavet en dybdegående analyse. Vi vil her præsentere to tendenser.

For det første er det en gennemgående tendens, at grupperne er vendt tilbage til at møde fysisk til deres praksisser. Mange informanter fremhæver, at dét at mødes fysisk og være nærværende sammen i samme rum ikke kan erstattes digitalt, fordi følelsen af fællesskab og sammenhørighed ikke på samme måde kan genskabes igennem det digitale. Dét at få øjenkontakt med et andet medlem eller med lederen eller at dufte og sanse rummet og at mærke stemningen fremhæves af mange som absolut essentielt og meningsgivende for dem i deres religiøse liv. Videre har flere informanter også pointeret at forskellige ritualer, såsom nadvere eller belæringer, virker mest autentiske og virkelige, når den religiøse leder er fysisk present.

For det andet kan vi se, at håndteringen af pandemien og den digitale omstilling, grupperne har gennemført eller forsøgt at gennemføre, er stærkt afhængig af de lokale ressourcer, gruppen har til rådighed. Disse ressourcer relaterer sig blandt andet til de generationer, der er repræsenteret i gruppen, de digitale ressourcer og udstyr, der har været adgang til og diversiteten i gruppen. Grupper med yngre medlemmer, medlemmer, der har digitale kompetencer og generelt grupper med flere medlemmer er lykkedes bedre med at omstille sig til det digitale end mindre grupper med ældre og færre medlemmer.

Vi ser frem til at have det samlede materiale indsamlet og til at påbegynde en dybere analyse, både på den danske såvel som på de andre landes data, men for nu kan ovenstående give et første indblik i projektets fund.

Image credit: image provided by the author

What drives decision making about whether to maintain virtual services?

Posted on September 15, 2023 - 9:31 am by Recovira

Dr Sean Durbin, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Manchester Metropolitan University

On the evening of March 23, 2020, as the reality of the deadly nature of the COVID-19 pandemic set in in the UK, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced^[1] the UK would enter a national lockdown. The following day, The Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England sent a letter^[2] to all clergy informing them that church buildings were to be closed for both public worship and private prayer. The Church of England’s decision meant that individual parishes around the country had to quickly adapt and come up with ways to livestream their services to their respective congregations.

Over the past six months I have spoken with a number of Church of England leaders of congregations in London about their experience of transitioning online and their decision to either maintain and end their online services after restrictions were lifted. In line with the findings of some of our previous research^[3], most found the transition online unsatisfactory. But what is also interesting is the different ways some have framed their decisions to either keep or curtail online services in theological language.

For example, one pastor I spoke with told me how their transition online was a “pretty steep learning curve” but the younger demographics of the congregation in both age and occupation meant that they were quite tech-savvy, which made the transition easier. An unforeseen consequence of livestreaming their services on Zoom was that they ended up reaching more people virtually than they had ever had in person; According to the pastor on an ordinary pre-pandemic Sunday they might have 80 people, whereas he told me that some of their early livestreamed services had over 100 people tuning in from geographically distance places, who would not or could not be there in person even if they had been allowed to.

When restrictions eased and they were able to go back in person, like many congregations, they began with a hybrid model. This helped to maintain these large numbers by mixing in person attendance with virtual offerings on Zoom. However after brief period of this hybrid model, the church made a conscious decision to end their online offerings in a bid to encourage people to come back in person. This was justified theologically on the grounds that online church was less authentic. Their senior pastor explained it to me like this:

“It was an interesting time reflecting on what church actually is. And we felt in the end, that church is very much about meeting in person. And I’m not sure you can really do Church online, effectively, in a biblical way. So it … crystallized for us that church is not just about getting some input from the front by way of a Bible talk. It’s, it’s God’s people gathering together. That’s the New Testament, the Greek word for church, Ecclesia; it literally means a gathering. And I think the gathering element of churches is fundamental to what church is about.”

At another congregation that I have been working with, the Vicar also felt that the lockdown and pandemic was a time to reflect on what church was about. As a church they are especially focused on working with and in their community, and this made conducting worship services on Zoom particularly difficult because they lacked that kind of community connection. Despite this, the conclusions arrived at were somewhat different.

Using the parable of the lost sheep from Matthew 18:10-14^[4], the vicar described how the pandemic and lockdown became a time to reflect on issues of equity for those who are most marginalized in society. As he described it, the pandemic was a reminder of the reality that people with disabilities, people who work shift work, people with caring responsibilities or anything else in their lives that that makes coming in person on a Sunday impossible, don’t have the same ease of access as many others. Rather than deny anyone the opportunity to participate, this congregation made the conscious decision to maintain their online offerings in order to engender wider participation. From his point of view, “if we’re not listening to them [the most marginalized], we’re not doing it right.”

As a result, this church continues to offer its services on Zoom, as well as morning prayer every Wednesday on a Facebook live. In their view it doesn’t affect in-person attendance, and doesn’t require much extra effort to set up. In my observations, these virtual offerings don’t appear to be taken up by large numbers of people. But, in line with the theme equity, the church maintains them so that they are available if needed.

While different churches might use different theological reasoning to explain their choices to keep or get rid of some or all of their virtual offerings, there are very practical reasons at play here as well. One South London Parish I have just started working with still stream their Sunday Mass on Zoom but have cancelled streaming all the other services, such as morning prayer and evening Mass. When I asked if this was to encourage people to come back, or for any particular theological reasons, the answer was much more simple than I expected: They had to cancel streaming them because they simply couldn’t guarantee that there would always be someone capable of setting up the livestream at those mid-week services.

References

youtube.com/watch?v=jK8vjgVlc8A
https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/20200324-letter-from-archbishops-and-bishops_0.pdf
https://bric19.mmu.ac.uk/
biblia.com/bible/esv/matthew/18/10-14

Image credit – Image by Patrick from Pixabay – https://pixabay.com/photos/church-religion-streaming-6712444/

National and local discourses of digitalization in an Evangelical Lutheran parish in Finland during the pandemic

Posted on August 24, 2023 - 8:00 am by Recovira

turku-cathedral-bell-tower-by-heikki-raisanen

A summary of my Master’s thesis conducted as part of ReCoViRa in Finland

Ossian Klingstedt, Åbo Akademi University

The aim of my thesis was to analyze the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland’s (ELCF) discourses on digital media during the COVID-19 pandemic. By applying the theoretical perspectives of mediatization, vicarious religion, and religious-social shaping of technology, I identified the specific discursive formations that were fundamental to the ELCF’s way of understanding and talking about digital media. In this light, I analyzed the ELCF’s adoption of digital tools during the spring of 2020 with a focus on its communication on both a national and a local level. The data analyzed consisted of a set of publications and information notices published by the ELCF both before and during the spring of 2020 (national level) as well as a group-interview conducted in 2023 with employees of the Swedish-speaking parish in Turku, Åbo svenska församling (local level).

My thesis shows how, at the national level, the ELCF’s communication regarding digital media was governed by specific discursive formations that depicted the church as a public utility and essential part of Finnish society – a “folk church” – while internally reproducing a notion of the church as being in a certain kind of existential crisis, due to e.g. membership loss and general disinterest in its activities and provisions. The ELCF drew on these discursive formations when justifying its use of digital media, arguing that, in a media-saturated society, it is necessary to extend activities and services to digital environments. In this, the ELCF’s official discourse includes clear elements of technological determinism, as the church sees adaptation to societal processes of digitalization as inevitable.

The COVID-19 pandemic accentuated this discourse of forced adaptation once it became clear for the ELCF that certain technical solutions would be a necessity for it to be able to have an active role in society during the crisis. At the beginning of the pandemic, the central task of the ELCF became to maintain its services, but in a way that prioritized safety and health. Thus, technological solutions, such as streamed church services and pastoral care through video calls, came into the picture, and were put into use with the aim of maintaining the ELCF’s self-identified mission as a “folk church”: even in exceptional circumstances, the argument went, the church must be available for those who need it. At the local level, it was felt that digital media provide good opportunities for expanding the church’s communicative reach and for participation even in restricting conditions, as attendance numbers in online church services surprisingly exceeded those of in-person services before the pandemic. The administration of the “virtual church”, however, also greatly increased the workload for specific employees instead of functioning as a well-integrated supplement to established offline practices. Furthermore, some ritual acts, such as the Eucharist in particular, were perceived as impossible to fully realize through current digital mediums. Local parish employees therefore made a clear qualitative distinction between the “online” and the “offline” church, although further integration of digital elements into everyday parish activities and services is to be expected in the near future.

Image credit – Heikki Raisanen: Turku Cathedral Bell Tower

Studying post-covid religion in Finland

Posted on July 4, 2023 - 12:28 pm by Recovira

Linda Annunen, Project Researcher, Åbo Akademi University

Looking back, different countries responded differently to the outbreak of the Covid19-pandemic in the spring of 2020. While Sweden took the most liberal stance of all countries in Europe, other countries like Spain introduced more extensive restrictions and lockdowns. Finland fell somewhere in between. Although Finland never had national lockdowns as such, movements and contacts were restricted to some extent. The date28th of March 2020 marks an important date in Finnish Covid-history, as the capital city Uusimaa-region was put in an enforced isolation that lasted 265 days. During this time, movement to and from the region was heavily restricted. Such restrictions on free movement in Finland are extremely uncommon, and the date can thus be viewed as a symbolic starting point for an era of Covid-19 in Finland.

The isolation also affected religious communities, many of which have their headquarters in the capital region. Religious communities were, however, exempt from some of the restrictions on contacts and gatherings. Memories of social distancing frequently come up in our ethnographic fieldwork, as people reflect on the ways in which their religious lives have continued since the pandemic. We have so far mainly engaged with people in relation to one of our three case studies: the Evangelical Lutheran church of Finland (ELCF), which represents the largest and most established of the three communities that we focus on. Many of our interlocutors from the ELCF have expressed gratitude over the fact that social distancing no longer regulates how they practice religion. However, the ethnographic data also suggests that something more positive might have come out of the restrictions, namely new ways of conducting for example religious work life, the introduction and establishment of new rituals on social media, and in some cases new ways of thinking about religious life that are primarily formed and affected by digitalization. We have talked to people in many different roles, including people who work in ELCF administration, priests who work especially with social media, church youth workers, a cantor, and a group of senior church members called the “social media grannies”. Being able to study one community from many different angles has also provided us with a nuanced picture of the specific ways in which the pandemic affected particular groups across particular parishes.

We look to finalize our fieldwork within the ELCF in August and to continue with our case study 2: Jehovah’s Witnesses. This will no doubt provide us with just as many additional intriguing insights into the ritual lives of religious communities in post-pandemic Finland. The last of our ethnographic case studies focuses on a Buddhist community and will provides us with insights into how non-established minority groups were affected by Covid19. Together, our three cases will provide us with a good basis for comparison on both a national and pan-national level.

Image credit – Linda Annunen: A rectory / Pappila in Finland

ReCoVirA Deutschland – Zeiten der Erholung?

Posted on June 23, 2023 - 11:22 am by Recovira

Gero Menzel, Research Associate, Goethe University Frankfurt

Am 8. April wurden die letzten Corona-Maßnahmen, die FFP2-Maskenpflicht in Krankenhäusern und Apotheken, nicht verlängert. Damit ist Deutschland zumindest politisch in einen post-pandemischen Zustand eingetreten. Der größte Teil des gesellschaftlichen und auch des kirchlichen Lebens ist schon länger zu einer Art ‚neuer alter Normalität‘ zurückgekehrt.

Als wir Mitte März in die Feldphase eintraten, erlebten wir, das deutsche ReCoVirA-Team, ein Feld, in dem die Auswirkungen der Pandemie noch präsent waren. Die Zahlen der Gottesdienstbesucher sind oft niedriger als vor der Pandemie, die Menschen zögern immer noch, sich die Hände für den Friedensgruß zu schütteln, die Hände werden vor der Spendung der Eucharistie desinfiziert und einige andere Hygienemaßnahmen sind noch immer in Kraft. Doch viele ist momentan in Bewegung. Der beliebte Livestream aus der Bischofskapelle in Limburg, der im März 2020 gleich zu Beginn des ersten Lockdowns seinen Anfang fand, wurde nach einem Stream Ostermesse eingestellt. Viele Arten von Veranstaltungen, Gottesdiensten und Zusammenkünften, die während der Pandemie entstanden sind, wurden bereits eingestellt, werden derzeit eingestellt oder an die neuen Gegebenheiten angepasst. Ramadan 2022 war der erste Ramadan seit zwei Jahren ohne Corona-Beschränkungen, Ramadan 2023 bereits der zweite.

Die Gesellschaft und mit ihr die Religionsgemeinschaften scheinen sich auf ein Leben nach der Pandemie eingestellt zu haben. Das bedeutet nicht, dass die Auswirkungen der letzten drei Jahre einfach verschwunden sind, aber in einem Zustand der Erholung, eine etwas begrenzte Übersetzung des englischen Wortes recovery, nach dem sich Akronym ReCoVirA bildet, haben sich die Praktiken verändert. Wie Stephan Lessenich in seinem Buch Nicht mehr normal beschreibt, ist Normalität etwas, das durch alltägliche Praktiken hergestellt wird. Das Gleiche gilt für Prozesse der Wiederherstellung oder der Rückkehr zur Normalität. Das bedeutet, dass wir in diesen Zeiten der Erholung beobachten können, welche Praktiken und Mechanismen in einem post-pandemischen Zustand zur Anwendung kommen, wie sie verhandelt werden und welche Prioritäten sich herausbilden.

Anknüpfend an einige Vorgängerstudien (CONTOC, midi, ReTeOG…) geht es nun um die Frage: “Wie formieren sich Religionsgemeinschaften angesichts aller Herausforderungen, Veränderungen und der in der Pandemie entwickelten Kreativität?”. An diese Frage knüpft an eine andere an, nämlich wie sich die Rolle der Religion im öffentlichen Leben verändert hat und verändert. Der Religionsmonitor 2023 legt nahe, dass die Religion in der Corona-Krise, wenn es Angebote im Umgang mit Krisen geht, nicht mehr den gleichen gesellschaftlichen Stellenwert wie zuvor hat. Es hat sich gezeigt, dass Politik und Medizin im Krisenmanagement und der Orientierung in Krisen von den Bürger:innen als wichtiger wahrgenommen wurden. Religiöse Einrichtungen sind für religiöse Menschen nach wie vor eine wichtige Ressource und eine wichtige gesellschaftliche Institution in Krisenzeiten, aber ihre gesellschaftliche Wahrnehmung scheint sich verändert zu haben.

Die Einschränkungen durch die Pandemie haben die Religionsgemeinschaften gezwungen, sich für digitale Formate und eine digitalisierte Öffentlichkeit zu öffnen. Allerdings sind nicht alle Religionsgemeinschaften online gegangen und nicht alle haben sich mit diesem Umfeld vertraut gemacht. Wird dies insbesondere traditionelle Religionsgemeinschaften in den gegenwärtigen Zeiten multipler Krisen auf einer tieferen Ebene beeinflussen? Wie gehen die Religionsgemeinschaften mit der digitalisierten Öffentlichkeit um, insbesondere die der jüngeren Generationen?

Literature

Churches Online in Times of Corona (CONTOC) (2021). Ergebnisse zur CONTOC-Studie, Sektion Deutschland. Aufbauend auf die erste ökumenische Tagung am 13.4.2021. PDF-Bericht. https://contoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Ergebnisse-zur-CONTOC-Deutschland-Tagung-13.04.2021-1.pdf.

CONTOC2 (28. September 2022). Für die evangelischen Kirchen in Deutschland und in der Schweiz. Foliensatz. https://contoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CONTOC2-Erste-Ergebnisse.pdf.

Hillenbrand, C., Pollack, D., & El-Menouar, Y. (2023). Religion als Ressource der Krisenbewältigung? Analysen am Beispiel der Coronapandemie. Religionsmonitor: Vol. 2023. Bertelsmann Stiftung.

Hörsch, D. (2020). Digitale Verkündigungsformate während der Corona-Krise.: Eine Ad-hoc-Studie im Auftrag der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland. Evangelische Arbeitsstelle midi. https://www.mi-di.de/media/pages/materialien/digitale-verkuendigungsformate-waehrend-der-corona-krise/f0b254d2b8-1598620182/midi-ad-hoc-studie-digitale-verkuendigungsformate-waehrend-der-corona-krise.pdf

Hörsch, D. (2021). Gottesdienstliches Leben während der Pandemie.: Verkündigungsformate und ausgewählte Handlungsfelder kirchlicher Praxis – Ergebnisse einer midi-Vergleichsstudie. Evangelische Arbeitsstelle midi. https://www.mi-di.de/media/pages/materialien/gottesdienstliches-leben-waehrend-der-pandemie/065d6d852f-163223314/midi_gottesdienstliches-leben-waehrend-der-pandemie.pdf

Lessenich, S. (2022). Nicht mehr normal : Gesellschaft am Rande des Nervenzusammenbruchs. Hanser.

Reimann, R. P & Sievert, H. (2021). Studie zu Online-Gottesdiensten 2021: Update der Befragungsstudie „Rezipiententypologie evangelischer Online-Gottesdienstbesucher*innen während und nach der Corona-Krise“. https://medienpool.ekir.de/A/Medienpool/92419?encoding=UTF-8

Schlag, T., & Nord, I. (2021). Kirche in Zeiten der Pandemie: Erfahrungen – Einsichten – Folgerungen : Einblicke in die internationale und ökumenische CONTOC-Studie. Deutsches Pfarrerblatt. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.5167/UZH-217645

Image credit: AI image generated using Leonardo.AI
“An illustration showcasing the use of digital tools, such as smartphones or tablets, by religious leaders or practitioners to connect with their communities virtually”

ReCoVirA Germany – Times of recovery?

Posted on June 23, 2023 - 11:15 am by Recovira

Gero Menzel, Research Associate, Goethe University Frankfurt

Recently, on the 8th of April, the last corona measures, ffp2-masks being compulsory in hospitals and pharmacies, were not prolonged and Germany has now at least politically entered a post-pandemic state. Most of social life as well as religious life had already reverted back to a somewhat “new old normal”.

Entering the field phase in mid-March, we, the German ReCoVirA team, experienced a field were effects of the pandemic were still present. Attendance is often lower than before the pandemic, People are still hesitant shaking hands for the rite of peace, hands are disinfected before the administration of the Eucharist and some other hygiene measures are still in place. Currently there is a lot of change. The popular livestream from the bishop’s chapel in Limburg, which was established in March 2020, was discontinued after Easter mass. Many types of events, services and gatherings adapted during the pandemic have been discontinued, are being discontinued or adjusted to new circumstances. Ramadan 2022 marked the first Ramadan in two years without corona restrictions, Ramadan 2023 already the second.

Society and with it religious communities seem to have moved on to a post-pandemic life. That doesn’t mean that the impact of the last 3 years has just disappeared, but in a state of recovery, on which the acronym ReCoVirA models itself, practices have shifted. As Stephan Lessenich points out in his book Nicht mehr normal, normality is something produced by every-day practices. The same can be said to processes of recovery or reverting back to normalcy. This means in these times of recovery we can observe which practices and mechanisms are invoked in a post-pandemic state, how they are negotiated and which priorities emerge.

Following up on some predecessor studies (CONTOC, midi, ReTeOG…), the question transforms to “How do religious communities (re-)shape themselves in light of all challenges, changes and creativity of the pandemic?”. This question link to another about how the role of religion in public life changed and changes. The Religionsmonitor 2023 suggests that following the corona crisis religion does not have the same social standing as before, when it comes to dealing with crisis. Politics and medicine have shown to be perceived as more important to citizens, when it comes to crisis management and orientation in times of crisis. Religious institutions remain an important resource for the religious as well as an important social institution in times of crisis, but their social perception seems to have changed. The restrictions of the pandemic have compelled religious communities to open up to digital formats and a digitized public sphere. But not all religious communities went online and not everyone became familiar with these surroundings. Will this affect especially traditional religious communities in the current times of multiple crises on a deeper level? How do religious communities engage with the digitized public sphere, especially the younger generations?

Literature

CONTOC2 (28. September 2022). Für die evangelischen Kirchen in Deutschland und in der Schweiz. Foliensatz. https://contoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CONTOC2-Erste-Ergebnisse.pdf.

Hillenbrand, C., Pollack, D., & El-Menouar, Y. (2023). Religion als Ressource der Krisenbewältigung? Analysen am Beispiel der Coronapandemie. Religionsmonitor: Vol. 2023. Bertelsmann Stiftung.

Lessenich, S. (2022). Nicht mehr normal : Gesellschaft am Rande des Nervenzusammenbruchs. Hanser.

Prvi intervjuji izvedeni s predstavniki religijskih skupnosti v Sloveniji

Posted on June 23, 2023 - 10:55 am by Recovira

Katja K. Ošljak and Simona Kuntarič Zupanc, Researchers, University of Ljubljana

V raziskavi Religijske skupnosti v digitalni dobi sodeluje tudi Fakulteta za družbene vede, UL.

V slovenski raziskovalni ekipi pod vodstvom Aleša Črniča sodelujejo še Simona Kuntarič Zupanc, Katja K. Ošljak in Taja Fortuna.

Slovenski tim raziskuje več religijskih skupnosti, med drugim Rimskokatoliško cerkev, Islamsko skupnost v RS in Skupnost za zavest Krišne. Raziskovalec in raziskovalke preučujejo digitalizacijo na področju religije s perspektive organizacij in vernikov; v središču njihove pozornosti pa so spremembe narave, strukture in doživljanje religijskega življenja od epidemije COVID-19 dalje.

V prvi fazi je zbiranje potekalo po t. i. metodi netnografije, s čimer je raziskava zajela oziroma popisala spletno oziroma digitalno prisotnost slovenskih religijskih skupnosti ter dobila vpogled v širino delovanja religijskih organizacij in religijskih praks vernic in vernikov prek spleta.

Tudi na podlagi tako zbranih podatkov je nato širša mednarodna raziskovalna skupina zasnovala etnografske intervjuje. Slovenski raziskovalki Simona Kuntarič Zupanc in Taja Fortuna pa sta prvi iz mednarodne skupine izvedli poglobljene intervjuje s predstavniki religijskih organizacij ter verniki in vernicami. Poleg tega sta raziskovalki preživeli veliko časa v družbi predstavnikov različnih religijski skupnosti in opazovali obredja v cerkvah, džamiji in templjih.

Ohranjanje stika s skupnosjo

PHOTO CAPTION: Menih Skupnosti za zavest Krišne med jutranjim obredjem, pri katerem se geografsko razpršena skupnost na spletu srečuje tudi po koncu epidemije.

Med terenskim raziskovanjem smo opazili, da so si religijske skupnosti v času epidemije prizadevale, da bi ohranile stik s svojimi člani in članicami kljub omejitvam, ki jih je prinesla epidemija. Prilagodile so se novim okoliščinam in poiskale načine za izvedbo maš, molitev, predavanj in drugih religijskih praks na daljavo prek digitalnih platform.

S pomočjo digitalnih medijev so ohranjale stik in zagotavljale več religijskih vsebin na platformah kot so YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, WhatsApp itd. Te so vernikom omogočale dostop do obredov, molitev, predavanj, pesmi in drugih religijskih vsebin ter aktivnosti. Veliko jih ostaja dostopnih tudi po koncu epidemije, saj so člani in članice digitalne kanale sprejeli oziroma jih prepoznali kot koristne.

Nekateri sogovorniki so epidemične omejitve interpretirali celo kot priložnost za digitalizacijo religijskih praks, vendar smo pogosto slišali tudi, da so omejitve združevanja v skupnih prostorih morda prispevale k upadu občutka pripadnosti skupnosti, ki ga naj bi ga zagotavljali fizični obredi in srečanja iz-oči-v-oči v cerkvi, džamiji ali templju.

A few preliminary findings from the Danish context

Posted on June 23, 2023 - 10:50 am by Recovira

Anne Lundahl Mauritsen, Postdoctoral Researcher, Aarhus University

When researchers write an application for a project, we always try to visualize the many different stages of said project as well as predict the possible pitfalls and difficulties we can run into at each stage. While the RECOVIRA project is an international, collaborative project spanning seven different European countries with a thoughtful plan for administration, each of these seven different countries have their own national research culture, logics and law. This can produce challenges, which became evident when we in Denmark in January began to plan our field work and applied for ethical approval of the data collection.

Though the RECOVIRA project might have been approved in terms of research ethics at the hosting university of Manchester Metropolitan University, we were also obliged to have the collection of empirical data in Denmark approved by a research ethical committee at Aarhus University before we began our investigation. This was one element we had to respond to; however, as we began to prepare our ethical application, another important element came into play, namely The General Data Protection Regulation. Essentially, we had to make sure that the way we collect data is both ethically sound and follows the GDPR, which might seem fairly simple. However, what proved to be difficult was to make sure that the many aspects of the fieldwork lived up to both. The RECOVIRA project is based upon the integration of many sources of data: fieldwork – both online and offline -interviews as well as observations of rituals, preferably in the form of pictures and video. The latter proved to be difficult. When we first submitted our ethical application, the board responded with concerns in terms of how we would ensure ethical consent from all participants who would be depicted on pictures and video; however, even if we manage to do this, our legal advisor also pointed to us that any type of personal data collected must live up to the GDPR, which makes such data collection further difficult, since video material is very hard to pseudonymize compared to for instance interview data. The ethical board instead encouraged us to reapply with an application for just field work and interviews.

We have now just received an approval for this application and are eager to initiate the Danish data collection; however, we continue to reflect upon how we will collect data on rituals in a manageable, ethical and data secure way. For now, we know that when planning empirical research project one should be prepared to set aside time for ethical applications and educate themselves on GDPR and recognize that this can a more time-consuming process than one might expect.

Image credit: AI image generated by craiyon.com “Illustrate the concept of data privacy and security”

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