New Found Faith: Through a Virtual Lens
Item
PGV_ID
300203
Title
New Found Faith: Through a Virtual Lens
Author (individual or group)
Emily Wenzinger
Location
Toledo, Ohio
Religious movement
Roman Catholic
Description or narrative
New Found Faith: Through a Virtual Lens
The Coronavirus, global pandemic known as COVID - 19 that began to spread throughout the United States in the middle of March has had a great impact on many, if not all religious groups. Whether the group shift serves or sermons to an online, virtual format or the new topic made its way into the content of the services the pandemic has been very present. People across the globe have been greatly impacted by this same disease simultaneously making it easy for religious groups to communicate their message in a very comparative way. This means that many groups are discussing the same topic from different angles and through different lenses allowing their reaction to the pandemic to be compared to the reactions of other religious groups. These reactions and shifts in styles of preaching are becoming easily accessible through the use of social media and the internet. Larger groups of people across the world have gained access to many religions they may not have had readily available to them, thus changing the religious views and practices of many people. I have personally experienced this phenomenon of new perspectives and I have witnessed various religious responses to the pandemic.
I was born and raised in Northwest Ohio as a Roman Catholic I was heavily exposed to the practices of Catholicism. I attend private, Catholic schools five days a week for thirteen school years. Despite my exposure and upbringing I have never been overly involved in religious life outside of basic requirements set by school as well as religious obligations. The pandemic has affected me in various unexpected ways.
The Catholic Churches in my area, as well as many around the country, moved mass to online, virtual recordings. Some churches streamed a live video while others pre-recorded services to post for viewing at the leisure of the individual. As many young teenagers who are trying to figure out what they personally believe and are not avid church goers, I can not lie that I was relieved that masses were now online and I did not have to wake up early Sunday mornings to attend. Over the course of quarantine my family began to develop a new pattern of partaking in mass. We would watch mass in the evenings since school work was done and it was a good way to destress before dinner on Sundays. As quarantine progressed my mother's work schedule, since she works in a healthcare facility, began to pick up and there were quite a few weeks where she would prefer to watch mass in bed before going to sleep. My older sister moved back to her house in Southern Ohio and I was left to watch mass on my own. This is when I began to take on the responsibility in not only watching mass, but retaining the message that had been shared. This online formatting of mass allowed for me to sit in the comfort of my own home and watch mass at my leisure allowing for a more informal relationship between myself and God. I quickly began to grow fond of this new type of relationship and mass became much more enjoyable and convenient.
The switch to online services or sermons has been just that, comfortable, for many people. There is much more flexibility with timing as well as setting allowing more people to attend. I also have found it very interesting that in my REL 101 course at Miami University some students have spoken about their research and findings regarding the influx of attendees to religious services and the various places around the world that these new people are tuning in from. I know from personal experience that this new way of virtual preaching has allowed for exploration of new groups and beliefs. While I have not looked into other sermons with the intent of following a new religion I have viewed Catholic Priests in various states to find ones that I found particularly interesting. I have also tuned into a few different religions services to broaden my horizon and give me a new perspective on the pandemic as well as regions I may not have otherwise been exposed to.
I think that the pandemic has been a major learning curve for myself as well as many religions across the world. The way in which preaching is conducted as well as the information shared in sermons has shifted. COVID - 19 has had a massive impact, but it has allowed for growth in those who are open to new experiences and it has provided religious meaning to the lives of those who have only attended services as a means of checking something off the “to - do” list.
The Coronavirus, global pandemic known as COVID - 19 that began to spread throughout the United States in the middle of March has had a great impact on many, if not all religious groups. Whether the group shift serves or sermons to an online, virtual format or the new topic made its way into the content of the services the pandemic has been very present. People across the globe have been greatly impacted by this same disease simultaneously making it easy for religious groups to communicate their message in a very comparative way. This means that many groups are discussing the same topic from different angles and through different lenses allowing their reaction to the pandemic to be compared to the reactions of other religious groups. These reactions and shifts in styles of preaching are becoming easily accessible through the use of social media and the internet. Larger groups of people across the world have gained access to many religions they may not have had readily available to them, thus changing the religious views and practices of many people. I have personally experienced this phenomenon of new perspectives and I have witnessed various religious responses to the pandemic.
I was born and raised in Northwest Ohio as a Roman Catholic I was heavily exposed to the practices of Catholicism. I attend private, Catholic schools five days a week for thirteen school years. Despite my exposure and upbringing I have never been overly involved in religious life outside of basic requirements set by school as well as religious obligations. The pandemic has affected me in various unexpected ways.
The Catholic Churches in my area, as well as many around the country, moved mass to online, virtual recordings. Some churches streamed a live video while others pre-recorded services to post for viewing at the leisure of the individual. As many young teenagers who are trying to figure out what they personally believe and are not avid church goers, I can not lie that I was relieved that masses were now online and I did not have to wake up early Sunday mornings to attend. Over the course of quarantine my family began to develop a new pattern of partaking in mass. We would watch mass in the evenings since school work was done and it was a good way to destress before dinner on Sundays. As quarantine progressed my mother's work schedule, since she works in a healthcare facility, began to pick up and there were quite a few weeks where she would prefer to watch mass in bed before going to sleep. My older sister moved back to her house in Southern Ohio and I was left to watch mass on my own. This is when I began to take on the responsibility in not only watching mass, but retaining the message that had been shared. This online formatting of mass allowed for me to sit in the comfort of my own home and watch mass at my leisure allowing for a more informal relationship between myself and God. I quickly began to grow fond of this new type of relationship and mass became much more enjoyable and convenient.
The switch to online services or sermons has been just that, comfortable, for many people. There is much more flexibility with timing as well as setting allowing more people to attend. I also have found it very interesting that in my REL 101 course at Miami University some students have spoken about their research and findings regarding the influx of attendees to religious services and the various places around the world that these new people are tuning in from. I know from personal experience that this new way of virtual preaching has allowed for exploration of new groups and beliefs. While I have not looked into other sermons with the intent of following a new religion I have viewed Catholic Priests in various states to find ones that I found particularly interesting. I have also tuned into a few different religions services to broaden my horizon and give me a new perspective on the pandemic as well as regions I may not have otherwise been exposed to.
I think that the pandemic has been a major learning curve for myself as well as many religions across the world. The way in which preaching is conducted as well as the information shared in sermons has shifted. COVID - 19 has had a massive impact, but it has allowed for growth in those who are open to new experiences and it has provided religious meaning to the lives of those who have only attended services as a means of checking something off the “to - do” list.
Contributor
wenzinem
Religious organization, or house of worship
Roman Catholic
Genre
Personal story, social media or blog post, unpublished material, etc.
Date
September 15, 2020
Item sets
This item was submitted on September 15, 2020 by Emily Wenzinger using the form “Help gather religious responses to the pandemic” on the site “Preaching Goes Viral”: https://preachinggoesviral.org/s/preaching-goes-viral
Click here to view the collected data.