ReCoVirA: Religious Communities in the Virtual Age

While, historically, religious life has been something of a refuge from the digitalisation of society, the COVID-19 pandemic changed that. The social restrictions imposed by the pandemic rapidly accelerated religious communities’ embrace of digital tools and structures in order to continue their essential social and psychological work during this crisis. As our preliminary research has shown, these developments have opened up new and productive possibilities for how European religion is done, and so these developments are likely to persist long after the pandemic has ended. But exactly what the consequences of this rapid digitalisation of religious life in Europe will be, for majority and minority traditions, requires further research.

How will issues such as religious authority, community belonging and membership, the (digital) sense of sacred place, the making of meaningful and affectively potent rituals and the relationship of religious communities to the wider public sphere change when those communities exist primarily, or even completely, in the digital realm?

This project brings together scholars from seven European countries with backgrounds in the sociology of religion, anthropology, digital religion, performance studies and allied disciplines to address these questions. The primary method will be ethnography, including both traditional and digital methods. The project will conduct ethnographic research on mainstream, long-established minority and emergent or newly-built religious communities in our countries in a way that facilitates both ethnographic depth and international comparability. To supplement this, we will: (a) review and analyse large-scale social surveys of European experience of and engagement with religion and the digital; (b) conduct a social and broadcast media analysis of changing coverage of religion in response to the pandemic; and (c) conduct an aesthetic analysis of online and hybrid rituals with the tools of performance studies.

KEYWORDS:

religion, covid-19, digitalisation, ritual, interreligious, digital religion, digital ethnography

CONSORTIUM

  • Project Leader: Joshua Edelman, Manchester Metropolitan University, Art and Performance, United Kingdom, e-mail
  • Viera Pirker, Goethe University, Catholic Theology, Germany, e-mail
  • Lena Roos, Södertörn University, School of Historical and Contemporary Studies, Sweden
  • Ewa Stachowska, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Applied Social Sciences and Resocialisation, Institute of Social Prevention and Resociali, Poland
  • Ales Crnic, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, Slovenia
  • Henrik Reintoft Christensen, Aarhus University, School of Culture and Society, dept. of the study of religion, Denmark, e-mail
  • Marcus Moberg, Åbo Akademi University, Study of Religions, Faculty of Arts, Psychology and Theology, Finland, e-mail

COOPERATION PARTERS

  • Bendorferforum für Ökumenische Begegnung und Interreligiösen Dialog E.V.
  • National Forum for Cooperation of Religions in Finland
  •  Forum for Culture and Religion FOKUS
  • JCM – The Standing Conference of Jews, Christians and Muslims in Europe
  • Rat der Religionen – Frankfurt (Council of Religions – Frankfurt)
  • The Donner Institute for Research in Religion and Culture
  • United Evangelical Mission, Organisation’s internal funds
  • The Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ),
  •  Bischöffliche Beauftrage and Bischofsvikar, Department of Church Development, Roman Catholic Diocese of Limburg, Hesse
  •  Church Research Institute, Evangelical Luther Church of Finland
  •  Foundation PSC
  •  Polish Association for the Study of Religions

EFFECTS & ACHIEVEMENTS

Project website

Poject achievements:

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic changed almost every part of daily life—including how people practice their faith. When places of worship closed, communities turned to digital tools to keep rituals and connections alive. After the pandemic subsided, religious communities found themselves still shaped by their new engagement with the now-inescapable virtual age. And so, this project examined how the nature, structure, and experience of religious life in Europe has changed in this era, and how these changes have played out differently for majority traditions, established minority communities, and those on the margins.

Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of this research was to understand the workings of virtual-age religious life across Europe: how it is experienced, how it is structured and organized by communities and technologies, how it makes use of social and digital technologies, and how it used these tools to make meaning and values. As part of this, we explored how religious communities used social media and, how they built meaningful and effective online rituals, and how they negotiated their place in wider society. By examining these questions, the project sought to provide insights that were useful for scholars of contemporary religion, but also to help communities reflect on their own practices, guide policymakers in supporting social inclusion, and contribute to broader conversations about identity and belonging in a digital world.

Methodology

We chose three case studies in each country—one mainstream, one established minority, and one more marginalised minority—and spent time observing their ongoing work, both in person and online. We interviewed leaders and members, attended services and events, and examined their online presence. While each example was different, we identified common themes that bound these studies together. This work was carried out by an international team of researchers across seven countries, using a collaborative approach to ensure both local depth and cross-national comparison. Alongside ethnographic observation, the project drew on social media analysis and aesthetic analysis of digital rituals to better understand the online tools of religious life.

Key Findings and Impact

We found that the sense of religious community—the feeling of being together— was essential for making online religious life feel meaningful and authentic. Different technologies had different strengths in creating that sense of connection, and while this could present challenges, some leaders developed exceptional skills in their use.

The virtual age also led to a more open understanding of community membership. Online, people can engage with a community without being a full member, and that was increasingly seen as legitimate. At the same time, this raised questions about what a community “really” is and its place in the wider culture, especially in digital spaces. These challenges were even greater for minoritised communities, which often faced higher levels of public distrust.

These insights matter because they show how technology is reshaping not just religious practice, but ideas of belonging and identity—issues that affect social cohesion and cultural diversity across Europe. They also highlight opportunities for communities to use digital tools creatively and effectively to while addressing the risks of exclusion and misunderstanding.

Publications:

  • Moberg, M., Illman, R., Annunen, L., Hulkkonen, K., Kodista kotiin: Improvisointi evankelis-luterilaisen seurakunnan sosiaalisen median rituaalissa, Teologinen Aikakauskirja, Teologinen Julkaisuseura ry, vol. 130(4), 2025, https://doi.org/10.62442/ta.146353
  • Annunen, L., Ritual Accessibility in the Aftermath of Covid-19: Securing Ritual Participation in Three Religious Communities, Journal of Media Religion and Culture, Brill, 2025
  • Moberg, M., Annunen, L., Hulkkonen, K., Digital Religion, 2025
  • Christensen, H. R., Annunen, L., Affect of Community, 2025
  • Crnic, A., Moberg, M., Religija, Digitalni Mediji in Epidemija Covida-19, Poligrafi, Scientific Publishing House Annales ZRS Koper, vol. 29(115-116), 2024, https://doi.org/10.35469/poligrafi.2024.470
  • Roos, L., Tolkningar, Förhandlingar och Fortsatta Samtal i det Mångkulturella och Postkoloniala Rummet, Högskolan Väst, 2025
  • Roos, L., Digital Ritual: Judaism under Covid-19, Research on Jewish Life and Learning, 2025
  • Roos, L., A Digital Mitzvah: Transformations of Jewish Burials during Covid-19 and Beyond, Federation of Finnish Learned Societies, 2025
  • Thurfjell, D., The Rise and Fall of Kale Romani Pentecostalism: Impact of the Pandemic, International Journal of Roma Studies, 2025
  • Kubai, A., Digitalizing Leadership During and After COVID-19, Exchange, 2025
  • Pirker, V., Menzel, G., The Covid-19 Pandemic as a Crisis of Participation, Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, 2024
  • Pirker, V., Menzel, G., Transnationality, Community and the Digital, Religions, vol. 16(2), 2025, https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16020119
  • Stachowska, E., Religious Communities and Digitalization on the Example of the Catholic Church in Poland, Przegląd Religioznawczy, vol. 2(296), 2025
  • Annunen, L., Hulkkonen, K., Eettinen Elämä ja Terveys, Ethnos, 2025
  • Stachowska, E., Authority in Digitalized Religious Communities in Poland, Przegląd Religioznawczy, 2025
  • Stachowska, E., The Christian Religious Communities and Digitalization in Poland, Przegląd Religioznawczy, vol. 3(297), 2025
  • Apanasewicz-Burcon, J., Market Activities of the Protestant Minority Community, Przegląd Religioznawczy, 2025
  • Christensen, H. R., Mauritsen, A. L., Jeg var i akut fællesskabsmangel, Religionsvidenskabeligt Tidsskrift, vol. 76, 2025, https://tidsskrift.dk/rvt/article/view/150957
  • Christensen, H. R., Mauritsen, A. L., How Do Religious Groups Use Digital Tools?, Temenos, 2025
  • Christensen, H. R., Mauritsen, A. L., Media Use in Religious Communities in Denmark, Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, 2025
  • Vincent, A., Durbin, S., Muslim Hypervisibility in the UK during COVID-19, Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, 2025
  • Edelman, J., The Aesthetics of Digital Ritual, Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, 2025
  • Crnic, A., Fortuna, T., The Impact of Digital Technologies on Slovene Religious Groups, Poligrafi, vol. 29(115-116), 2024, https://doi.org/10.35469/poligrafi.2024.467
  • Ošljak, K. K., Mediatisation of Religion and Shifts in Religious Authority, Poligrafi, vol. 29(115-116), 2024, , https://doi.org/10.35469/poligrafi.2024.468
  • Crnic, A., Embodied Religion in the Post-Pandemic Digital Age, Religion, State and Society, 2025
  • Christensen, H. R., Mauritsen, A. L., Religion and the Use of Digital Solutions during the Pandemic, Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture, 2025
  • Ossai, E. C., Mediated Communal Rituals and the Sustainability of Religious Communities, Journal of Religion in Europe, 2025
  • Durbin, S., Pandemic Acts: Cultivating a Geographically-Focused Church Community, Church, Communication and Culture, 2025
  • Edelman, J., Pirker, V., Roos, L., Crnic, A., Christensen, H. R., Vincent, A., Menzel, G., Religious Communities in the Virtual Age, 2025

 Start date

1 November 2022

Project duration

24 months

 Project budget

€ 1 396 740

Funding organisations