Abstract
The Coronavirus pandemic had a lot of extraordinary impact on the population globally. Areas significantly affected by the pandemic include families, the government, communities, and religious institutions. Members of the Church faced many challenges in performing their religious acts and duties due to the disorganization of religious gatherings and pastoral activities. Due to restrictions in physically attending places of worship and performing religious acts such as pastoralism, church members are under the limelight on their spirituality.
Speculations suggest that lack of physical attendance to church, fellowshipping together, and the viruses’ challenges and painful experiences may lead to a decline in faith and devotion to God. Thus, this will investigate and explore the impact of COVID-19 challenges, experiences, and struggles on Church members. The study seeks to determine if the pandemic’s negative experiences and restrictions on physical attendance at religious gatherings led to a decline or growth of spirituality among believers.
The main objective of this study is to establish that spirituality grows in the face of challenges and life-threatening experiences because people draw closer to God for the comfort and healing of themselves and others. The researchers will employ a qualitative research methodology to achieve the investigation’s objectives. The data will be collected by consulting secondary data sources such as scholarly journals, related magazines, and reports about Covid-19 and religion. Additionally, the study will employ questionnaires to collect qualitative narratives from respondents, giving more profound insight into their experiences of the pandemic and its effects on their spirituality. Respondents will be selected randomly from five churches, and the sample population will comprise church members and leaders from the selected churches. Through the qualitative data methodology, the researcher predicts that the findings will establish that Church members maintained and increased their spirituality despite the adverse effects and experiences of the pandemic and lack of physical attendance to religious places.
Background of the Study
The outbreak of COVID-19 wreaked havoc and gloom in society globally. The impact of pandemic affected and is still affecting many areas of the economic, religious, political, and social sectors. Among the most affected societies is the Christian community, which had to endure many challenges mentally, physically, and spiritually. COVID-19 resulted in a global outcry for social distancing and lockdowns to prevent transmission of the life-threatening virus. Educational institutions, Churches, places of worship, and social gatherings were closed down to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus. The impact of closing these institutions is felt to date, where nations have social, economic, and political crises leading to high living costs.
Notably, the pandemic affected the Christian community in significant ways, including physical suffering, mental health, restrictions from attending Churches and religious gatherings, frustrations from the inability to do charitable works, and spiritual struggles. Thus, the spiritual position of many Church members has become questionable due to the challenges and struggles of the pandemic. According to sources, the lockdown caused spiritual deviation due to anxiety, restlessness, and idleness, leading to engaging in distractive and secular activities that could deviate one’s faith and spirituality (Sulkowski & Ignatowski, 2020).
Attending church became virtual worldwide, and after re-opening places of worship, some Church members maintained online and virtual Church services raising concern about whether they gave up on fellowshipping together due to declining spirituality.
Despite the speculations, the faith of Church members could be intact and growing because health and spiritual challenges enhance the spiritual strength of the Christian community. Historically, various pandemics have attacked communities worldwide, significantly impacting the Christian community’s spirituality. The Spanish Flu in 1918 killed millions globally, and places of worship and social gatherings were closed to prevent transmission (Leal, 2021).
However, Church members continued in-house prayer and fellowship to overcome the challenges of the pandemic and emerged spiritually strong. Similarly, the Ebola attacks have affected significant African religious groups since 2014. Despite the suffering and spiritual challenges, Church members maintained their belief in God, enhancing their spiritual wellness (Xiong et al., 2020). To that end, the hardships of COVID-19 and restrictions on religious gatherings may positively influence the growth of spirituality among believers. Therefore, this study explores Church members’ experiences during the pandemic and how it affected their spirituality and perspectives regarding their religious beliefs to establish that COVID-19 challenges and suffering enhanced faith resulting in increased spirituality among Church members.
Statement of the Problem
The prevalence of the Coronavirus pandemic brought challenges and frustrations to populations worldwide. The pandemic affected all aspects of society, including the Christian community. The normal operations of the church experienced unforeseen and sudden interruptions creating challenges among believers on the way forward (Carey, Cohen, Gabbey, et al., 2021). People have always depended on God and religion to buffer them from difficulties and life-threatening situations. Hence, the closure of churches and religious gatherings impacted the sources of solace, such as fellowship with others and Christian testimonies that enhanced hope.
Religious beliefs and traditions in the church are vital in maintaining spiritual nourishment and psychological wellness (Beyerlein et al., 2021; Xiong et al., 2020). With the virus’s rapid spread, many churches and religious places were closed, preventing Christians from fellowshipping as a community that strengthens their Christian faith. Therefore, this study seeks to answer the following research question: With all that has occurred over the past 2.5 years in the face of COVID and COVID-related restrictions, what has been the impact on the levels of spirituality among church members?
The Purpose and Significance of the Study
The main objective of the research is to establish that the struggles and challenges of Covid-19 enhanced Christian’s faith, leading to increased spirituality despite non-physical attendance in places of worship. The paper explores Church members’ experiences during the pandemic and how they influenced their beliefs and devotion to God. By exploring the experiences and effects of Covid-related restrictions, the researcher will be able to find out the life-changing aspects which could influence the Christians’ spirituality negatively or positively. Thus, the study will enable Church members to learn coping strategies for spiritual struggles, physical challenges, and Covid-related restrictions such as the closure of Churches. Consequently, the research will demonstrate how challenges enhance faith leading to increased spirituality and encouraging Christians worldwide to remain committed to God and hope for the best regardless of the situation.
COVID-19 Restrictions and Church Attendance
Christians believe that the most significant attribute of Christianity is submitting to God through faith and growing the faith through daily communication with God and the Holy Spirit. Ribeiro et al (2020) define spirituality as a connection and devotion to God, made possible through faith in Jesus Christ. Christians strengthen their spirituality by attending religious gatherings, the church, and places of worship, and paying and fellowshipping in Christian communities. Consequently, Christians demonstrate spiritual acts by helping those in need, evangelizing, and pastoral activities. The Coronavirus pandemic brought much suffering, life-changing struggles, social alienation, and restrictions from physically attending Church congregations, immensely influencing Christian devotion and commitment to God.
Covid restriction limited physical attendance at the church where most church members find solace and spiritual growth. According to Village and Francis (2021) and Perry et al. (2020), Christians share love and concern through religious gatherings and meetings, which were limited during the Covid pandemic. Although virtual modes of communication were affected, physical presence fosters unity and well-being of church members, strengthening their faith in God. Christians find meaning in religious groups, which helps them maintain hope and promise better days. Fellowship and praying with other church members uplift the spirit, which cannot be achieved virtually.
Consequently, Most Christians develop spiritual growth through religion which becomes the core of their belief and devotion to God. Hermanto (2020) states that 80% of church members globally observe their religious doctrines and traditions to strengthen their faith. Religious gatherings are a pillar of faith because they facilitate observation of religious traditions, demonstrating how earlier Christians overcame trial and life’s challenges, giving them strength to follow in their footsteps. Therefore, the absence of observing the traditions and encouraging each other overcome trials may lead to the decline of spirituality.
Spiritual Struggles
Apart from physically restricting church attendance, Christians could not perform charitable works, which contributed immensely to spirituality. The nature of COVID-19 transmission could not allow church members to console those who had contracted the virus and watched them suffer and die without spiritual guidance to comfort them. As a result, Christians faced divine struggles, which played a significant role in risking spiritual decline (Leal, 2021; Papadopoulos et al., 2021).
Spiritual struggles manifest in various ways, such as doubting God’s power or spiritual belief, anger towards God for deserting His people in their time of need and questioning one’s existence and purpose (Upenieks, 2022). As a Christian, being powerless to offer spiritual help and perform charitable activities can impact one’s faith negatively. Church members may question their role in life as God’s servants when they are unable to offer help to their fellow Christians needing spiritual comfort.
Further, watching loved ones die in isolation shakes the Christian faith to question their existence and God’s power in their lives. Osei-Tutu et al. (2021) state that questioning God’s motives and character during the pandemic is among the significant factors that could impact Church members’ spirituality. Church members who believe God controls everything in the universe may perceive COVID-19 as God sent, leading to uncertainties about God’s caring and loving nature. When fellow Christians suffer and die, the people can question God’s motives for sending a life-threatening health condition like the virus when He is supposed to be a caring and loving God. According to Carey, Cohen, Aiken, et al. (2021) and Olonade (2021) research, Christians believe that God punishes sinners by subjecting them to harsh situations and challenges that may make them search for God’s help.
However, the Coronavirus affected believers and non-believers equally, leading to questioning God’s love. Nonetheless, Darmawan (2021) and Beyerlein et al. (2021) state that most believers hold images of an ideal God who cannot subject them to suffering and life-threatening situation. Olonade et al. (2021) research among believers indicates that the Christians believed the pandemic was brought by Satanic and antichrist beliefs to test their faith in God. Therefore, it enhanced their faith to stay strong and believe in God’s power to overcome the temptations of the pandemic struggles and challenges.
Fear of the Unknown
The isolation and social distancing created alienation among believers who were used to fellowshipping and praying together, encouraging each other on God’s presence and power. Being isolated creates fear of the unknown, which can disintegrate one’s faith due to uncertainty (Papazoglou et al., 2021; Roy et al., 2021; Macaraan, 2021). The Christian community depends on their togetherness in times of trial, strengthening spirituality. Isolation may weaken the soul and faith in the existence of God because of fear which decreases spirituality. However, Christians who believe God controls everything and has a plan for all that happens to individuals can stay strong in faith and hope for God’s intervention, increasing their spirituality. Macaraan (2021) argues that although isolation may be a significant barrier in exercising one’s religious traditions and overcoming challenges, believing in divine control means God understands and is present through all sufferings.
All in all, life-threatening challenges and negative experiences can be a turning point regarding religious beliefs and devotion, affecting the spirituality of the Christian community. Challenges such as the Covid pandemic can pose barriers to the growth of Church members’ spirituality if they have insufficient faith and will to overcome the trials (Koenig, 2020). At the same time, daily struggles and life-threatening experiences can enhance one faith to turn to God and become victorious against the trials.
Distracting Activities
Staying at home due to COVID-19 restrictions significantly impacted the youth, new converts, and vulnerable populations belonging to the Christian community. Being idle promotes many evils and distractions, which may sway one’s devotion and communication with God. The youth had plenty of time to engage in online entertainment and television shows, which could negatively influence their lifestyles and spirituality (Papazoglou et al., 2021; Santorini, 2021).
For instance, engaging in online sex chats and pornographic shows, which are ungodly and addictive, hinders other activities like prayers (Ganiel, 2021). Further, staying idle in a lockdown can cause anxiety which may influence drug and alcohol abuse resulting in decreased Christian activities (Rigoli, 2021). Therefore, COVID-19 had challenging experiences in the life of Christians, which could impact their spiritual position positively or negatively. Based on the body of the above literature review, the researcher proposes the hypothesis that;
Hypothesis: COVID-19 has likely not undermined the faith of profoundly or devoutly committed church members, but it has probably further eroded the uncertain faith of those only partly committed or on the verge of renouncing their Christian faith entirely.
Methodology: Research Design
This investigation will apply a qualitative research approach. Qualitative research involves collecting data in narrative form, which allows for obtaining in-depth and subjective data (Hennink et al., 2020). The approach promotes good communication relationships between the researcher and enhances the participants’ ability to open up and share in-depth information. Generally, the qualitative research design is suitable for this investigation as it offers the best methods for collecting and analyzing data subjective to solving social phenomena such as religion and spirituality.
Sampling Method
The sample population will comprise twenty Church members from five community churches leading to a sample size of 100 participants. The investigation will employ a purposive sampling of the Churches and a random selection of Church members for participation. Purposive sampling involves the selection according to specific characteristics, while random sampling includes selecting participants based on equal probability. The Churches will be selected purposively because the target group belongs to Church members from the protestant denomination. Selecting Church members randomly allows equal participation and unbiased data, leading to data generalization, which makes interpretation easier.
Data Collection
The researcher will collect data using questionnaires and consulting secondary data sources and interviews. The questionnaire will contain ten open-ended questions allowing respondents to express the experiences and effects of Covid-related restrictions, spiritual struggles, and challenges on their Spirituality. Secondary data collection entails reviewing existing literature related to the topic under investigation. Secondary data sources include online academic journals, magazines, newspapers, credible websites, and religious reports related to the research topic. The existing literature will allow a broader scope of data that can give in-depth perspectives on believers’ spirituality on a national and global scale.
Data analysis
The study will employ a thematic approach to analyzing qualitative data. Thematic analysis entails analyzing data and identifying themes or patterns that answer the research question. According to Hennink et al. (2020), thematic analysis is a flexible and suitable method of analyzing qualitative data because it allows an in-depth understanding of participants’ thoughts and experiences. The data will be uploaded in the MAXQDA software, which allows the importation and organization of data in themes, enhancing analysis and interpretation of the data (Kuckartz & Rädiker, 2019). With efficient data collection and analysis methods, the investigation will allow the researcher to answer the research question and effectively achieve the study’s objective.
Ethical considerations
Ethical considerations that will be observed include anonymity, confidentiality, informed consent, and voluntary participation. The researcher will gain consent from church leaders and members before issuing questionnaires. All participants will participate willingly and know the details of the research before giving confidential information. The respondent’s privacy will be protected using pseudonyms instead of personal information. All secondary sources will be cited appropriately according to authorship to avoid miscommunication and credit the author’s work incorporated in the paper.
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