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Black churchgoers have adapted so well to online church amid the pandemic some 41% of them now favor a hybrid model of in-person and online services, even after COVID-19 is no longer deemed a threat, and 7% say they would rather their church services remain digital going forward, a new study has revealed.
The study, Trends in the Black Church conducted in partnership with the Rev. Brianna K. Parker of Black Millennial Cafe, Gloo, Urban Ministries, Inc., LEAD.NYC, American Bible Society and Compassion, examined how the pandemic affected black faith communities. The data was gathered through follow-up with a group of 1,083 U.S. black adults and 822 black churchgoers who had participated in an online survey conducted April 22–May 6, 2020, according to Barna Research.
More than 40% of black churchgoers want to keep hybrid church | Church & Ministries News christianpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from christianpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Rev. Sunny Philip, the pastor of Gateway Christian Center Church in Valley Stream, New York, preaches to his congregation. | Courtesy Rev. Sunny Philip
Whenever the founder of New York’s Gateway Christian Center, Rev. Sunny Philip, recalls memories from his childhood in Kerala, India, in the 1960s, he remembers that the first book he ever laid eyes on was the Holy Bible at 6 years old.
Philip told The Christian Post in a recent interview that he will never forget how his devout Christian mother taught him to spend hours every day reading Scripture, praying to God and attending church.
By the time Philip was 13 years old, he already planned his future centered around serving God and others through ministry. He hoped first to attend a non-religious college and then later attend a Bible school in Bangalore with a dream of eventually becoming a pastor.
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(RNS) The return to in-person worship after more than a year of pandemic restrictions means the comeback of one of the most popular parts of church services: the coffee hour.
A survey from Barna Research found churchgoers missed having the chance to socialize with each other either before or after services almost as much as they missed taking Communion in person.
And what is a coffee hour without a tasty coffee cake to go with the java?
Here is a favorite coffee hour recipe from First Covenant Church in Seattle, submitted to the church’s cookbook by Quiwie Magnuson.
Sophie Godfrey of Athens, Ohio, daughter of Religion News Service national reporter Bob Smietana, gave the recipe a try recently. The results were a tasty treat more like a loaf of sweet bread than a traditional coffee cake. It’s best served with a cup of coffee and lingonberry jam.