(RNS) — When the COVID-19 pandemic led governors across the United States to close places where people congregated, religious organizations were left scrambling. While some larger houses of worship had already been broadcasting their weekend services online, many had to suddenly and urgently master the logistics of streaming worship online.

The vast majority adapted quickly. In 2020, Lifeway, the Southern Baptist Convention’s research arm, indicated that just a few months into the pandemic, 97% of churches were offering some form of online worship, salvaging the best form of connection to their congregants they had.  

Today, as a result, many religious leaders are facing a difficult transition: How do they nudge people off of streaming and back into the pews for weekend worship? And will they ever pull the plug on streaming services altogether? 

Data from the Pew Research Center just uploaded to the Association of Religion Data Archives provides interesting insights into how religious Americans expected online services to reshape their religious lives. The American Trends Panel Wave 70 was conducted in July of 2020 — still early days of the pandemic, so it represents only worshippers’ intentions. But the survey provides some of the most wide-ranging and revealing numbers we have seen on attendance before and after the pandemic.

To begin with, it’s crucial to note that 43% of respondents, when asked about their possible religious attendance after the pandemic was over, indicated, “I did not attend religious services in person before the outbreak and will not attend when the outbreak is over.”

“How Have You Participated in Worship in the Previous Month?” Graphic courtesy of Ryan Burge

Thus, 2 in 5 Americans said COVID-19 had no effect on their attendance at a religious institution at all. The rest of the analysis included only those who said they would attend services online or in person after the pandemic was over.

In July of 2020, 41% of those surveyed responded that they were attending religious services exclusively online; another 14% said they were participating in worship both online and in person. Seven percent said that they were exclusively attending in person.

“When the coronavirus outbreak is over, how often do you think you will attend religious services in person? By Type of Religious Participation in July 2020” Graphic courtesy of Ryan Burge

The real surprise of the Pew numbers is the 39% who planned to attend religious services in person or online after the lockdowns ended who said that they were not attending either option in July 2020. They had simply withdrawn from worshipping altogether.

One concern that religious leaders have had is that some of their congregation would find online streaming more convenient and would not return to worship in person when the lockdowns were lifted. The data provides some comfort on that question.

Among those who were exclusively streaming services in July of 2020, only 10% said they planned to attend services less often after restrictions were lifted. That’s not materially different from those who said they were not attending services at all during lockdowns. In other words, their behavior during the lockdowns didn’t seem to influence how frequently they intended to come to church, synagogue, mosque or temple after the pandemic.

“When the coronavirus outbreak is over, fo you think you will watch religious services online or on TV? By Type of Religious Participation in July 2020” Graphic courtesy of Ryan Burge

But what about using streaming to attend religious services after the lockdowns have ended? Among those who reported that they were both attending services in person and watching them online in July 2020, 34% said they would stream services less often once the lockdown had ended. Among those who were streaming exclusively in July of 2020, 27% said that they would be watching online less often when the COVID-19 restrictions had been lifted.

It seems clear from these figures that most people saw the online experience as a stop-gap measure, not a paradigm shift in how they connect with a religious community.

Nor does the quality of the online experience seem to have an effect on their return to the pews. Pew asked respondents how satisfied they were with watching a religious service through the internet. Satisfaction was high: 54% said “very satisfied,” 37% said “somewhat satisfied” and just 8% said they were not at all or not too satisfied with their online experience.

“Planned Attendance After COVID, Based On Satisfaction With Online Services” Graphic courtesy of Ryan Burge

Across this range, about 90% of people said that they planned to attend in person about as often or more often when they were allowed to return to corporate worship.

Not surprisingly, having an unsatisfactory experience online did convince some people to expect they would be less likely to stream services after lockdowns were over. Of those who reported low satisfaction, 41% said that they would be watching services less often when they could return in person. Even among those who had a good experience watching online services, a quarter said that they would use the online option less often when COVID-19 was over.

When looked at broadly, there is cause for concern and comfort in this data. It should be troubling for religious leaders that about 40% of people who were worshipping in person before COVID-19 were not attending worship services in July of 2020 (either in person or through the internet). They can take comfort, however, that no matter how an individual was connected to their local congregation (either online, in person or not at all), there is little difference in their desire to return to worship.

It’s important to remember that these questions were asked about future behavior. More recent surveys have indicated that religious attendance has dropped substantially from 2018 and 2022. Next, we have to better understand any disconnect between how people thought they were going to behave and how they actually participated in religious communities after the lockdowns ended.

Ryan Burge. Courtesy photo

(Ryan Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, a pastor in the American Baptist Church and author of “The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going.” He can be reached on Twitter at @ryanburge. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

Ahead of the Trend is a collaborative effort between Religion News Service and the Association of Religion Data Archives made possible through the support of the John Templeton Foundation. See other Ahead of the Trend articles here.

(RNS) — In 2008, Shay Pilnik was a Ph.D. student living in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, whose first university gig came in the form of a Holocaust course that nobody wanted to teach.

“To pitch myself as a candidate for that class was very easy,” Pilnik said about becoming an adjunct instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. “Nobody wanted to touch it. It has a lot of emotional, cultural and political underpinnings.”

Fifteen years later, Pilnik says many educators still fear teaching about the Holocaust. But the need is greater than ever. Just this week, the Anti-Defamation League found that 2022 had the highest number of reported antisemitic incidents since the group began tracking them in 1979, and a 2020 study by the Claims Conference, an organization dedicated to securing compensation for Holocaust survivors, found that 49% of U.S. millennials and Gen Zers could not name a single concentration camp. 

“We see the rise in antisemitism, most survivors are gone, and we see a lot of clues that the Holocaust is being forgotten,” Pilnik told Religion News Service. “Now is the time, we feel, to step up and rise to the occasion.”

Shay Pilnik. Photo courtesy of Yeshiva University

As director of Yeshiva University’s Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies, Pilnik is working to equip a new generation of educators with the pedagogical tools to effectively teach the Holocaust. Founded in 2019 by Holocaust survivor Emil Fish, Yeshiva’s Fish Center already offers a Master of Arts in Holocaust and Genocide Studies.  

This fall, it will begin offering a 12-credit Advanced Certificate in Holocaust Education specifically geared toward 6-12^th grade English, social studies, history or humanities teachers in both public and private schools. And in early March, the center announced a new partnership with Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center based in Jerusalem. Though the alliance is still in the early stages, the institutions plan to partner “in curriculum building, resource sharing, educator training and event design” to promote Holocaust education. Faculty affiliated with Yad Vashem will be involved in teaching courses in the new certificate program.

Though there are plenty of Holocaust and genocide studies programs at universities across the U.S., Pilnik says the Fish Center’s approach is distinct because, while people of any spiritual background can enroll, its content is rooted in Jewish experiences.

“There’s a mandate in over 20 states in the union for Holocaust education. But having said that, it’s often taught in a diluted way, and in a way where, according to a number of scholars, the subject is being inadvertently or consciously de-Judaized,” Pilnik observed. “We call it, facetiously, the Holocaust without Jews.”

According to Pilnik, the Holocaust is often framed by general conversations about human rights and genocide prevention. He believes educators must emphasize the Holocaust is “the pinnacle of the persecution Jews have experienced for two millennia.”

The Fish Center’s master’s and certificate programs offer resources for capturing the agency, creativity and humanity of Jewish people who lived during the Holocaust. Rather than stopping and starting with “The Diary of Anne Frank” or focusing exclusively on horrific images from concentration camps, these programs equip educators to tell the stories of Jewish communities who formed choirs, wrote symphonies and practiced their faith in secret.

The Mendel Gottesman Library at Yeshiva University in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York. Image courtesy of Google Maps

“These stories, they’re very important, because by diluting, you also dehumanize,” said Pilnik.

The Fish Center’s 30-credit master’s program has already attracted nearly 50 students. Unlike the certificate program, which is only open to educators, the master’s program includes students who are retirees, Ph.D. hopefuls, Wall Street bankers and anesthesiologists.

Both programs have course modules taught by experts from within and beyond Yeshiva University and are offered in a synchronous, virtual format. The certificate program has a more explicit emphasis on pedagogy, though participants can go on to complete the full 30 credits for a master’s degree, if they choose. And according to Pilnik, all of the Fish Center’s programs aim to cultivate genuine connection between participants and alumni. “The response to genocide is community building,” he said.

Anna Ecker, a high school English teacher in New York City’s public schools, enrolled in the master’s program in fall 2021. She says she already feels prepared to provide better context for the Holocaust literature she teaches.

“My generation, we grew up studying the Holocaust for two days in social studies watching a scary movie. That’s the extent of our Holocaust education. And maybe I took a course in college,” Ecker told RNS. “That’s not enough to adequately prepare somebody to teach the Holocaust in a way that’s going to be meaningful.”