The State of Christian Organisations during Covid-19
Findings from our research with Stewardship and YourNeighbour.org
While churches and Christian charities have experienced enormous disruption to their funding and service delivery as a result of Covid-19, a new study by Eido Research in partnership with Stewardship and Yourneighbour.org shows that they have also quickly adapted to the pandemic. More than seven in ten churches and five in ten Christian charities have instituted new programmes to help their communities cope with Covid-19.
Concentrating on the experience of Christian organisations in the UK, the study reveals the extent of the upheaval caused by the coronavirus, how churches and charities have responded, and what support they would appreciate from others.
The research indicates that 99 per cent of churches and 89 per cent of charities have experienced at least some hardship as a result of losing funding, with nearly a quarter of churches and 16 per cent of charities experiencing extreme financial hardship. Even more strikingly, all churches and nine in ten Christian charities claimed that their programme delivery had been at least somewhat disrupted by Covid-19.
‘Financially, this could be huge. The loss of income streams from letting the building and donations will have a big impact the longer this time goes on’, said one church leader. ‘We also have an inability to congregate, which is a fundamental part of congregational life’, added another.
Churches and Christian charities have also been obliged to meet greater needs with fewer resources: while 94 per cent of churches and 88 per cent of charities said they encountered increased demand for their services, more than eight in ten churches and six in ten charities were also facing hardship as a result of having to furlough or lay off staff members. ‘We have a huge challenge of delivering more services and provisions, but with less human and financial resources’, stated one church leader.
Christian organisations’ response to the coronavirus has often been further complicated by changing beneficiary needs, with survey participants noting an increased need for emotional and spiritual support, material supplies (including food and medicine), and other needs.
‘There has been a surge in need for spiritual and emotional care for those in isolation’, said one church leader. ‘The demand on our services (providing emergency food parcels to those unable to afford food) has doubled during the COVID-19 crisis’, added another. ‘Maintaining a sense of community and connected-ness, among those who would usually meet up face to face. This is especially true for the elderly, single parents, and young families. Without the church connection, some would have no-one else!’, stated a third.
An opportunity for Christian organisations?
Nonetheless, survey participants expressed optimism that Covid-19 might be producing a new spiritual openness in their communities. One charity leader, for example, described how ‘people who were not, to my knowledge, believers had asked for help in finding their purpose’. Another stated, ‘we are seeing a huge increase in the spiritual hunger from christians and non christians in our local community’. Similarly, church leaders mentioned that they were running online Alpha courses, providing spiritual and pastoral support to NHS frontline staff, as well as meeting their communities’ material needs.
These findings align well with recent research commissioned by Tearfund showing an increased interest in spirituality: a third of UK adults aged 18-34 say they have watched or listened to a religious service since the lockdown began, and one in five adults attending these services had never before attended church.
Christian organisations’ response
In response to this opportunity, churches and charities had begun to adapt existing activities and provide new programmes, with 71 per cent of churches and 50 per cent of charities saying they were delivering services they had never offered before.
Churches and charities were providing a wide range of assistance, including spiritual and emotional support, delivering food and other supplies, protecting congregations’ physical health, remaining watchful for safeguarding issues, and seeking out opportunities to partner with other organisations. As one church leader noted, ‘[our] telephone and internet usage is through the roof. [We are] working longer hours to try and communicate… [and phoning] those who seem cut off or adrift’.
Christian organisations had also begun to deliver these programmes in new ways, replacing in-person activities with online services, telephone calls, and postal updates, and by adjusting essential programmes to comply with social distancing requirements. One charity, for example, noted that their ‘homeless centre still provides breakfasts, but with a “queue and collect” operation, rather than offering indoor hospitality’.
“I think behind these statistics, is just how marvellously the church and christian organisations are launching to adapt to the real needs in society”, says Stewart McCulloch from Stewardship. “Because these organisations are based in the community and know their community, they are able to find and adapt to the most vulnerable. The sheer effectiveness of this work is quite dazzling when you look at it in detail”.
What support would Christian organisations appreciate?
In general, churches and charities emphasised that they would appreciate four forms of support: prayer, funding, help with technology, and volunteers. However, the percentage of Christian organisations which considered funding a high-priority need had doubled as a result of the coronavirus (from 23 to 45 per cent), and the proportion that valued technical and digital support had tripled (from 14 to 45 per cent).
In addition to the needs above, churches, especially, underlined a need for encouragement. One leader, for example, mentioned that they would welcome ‘a card or letter of encouragement, with prayer’ and, once lockdown restrictions were lifted, ‘a hug, and [for others] not to be embarrassed by my tears’. Charities, on the other hand, tended to place more emphasis than churches on strategic support, such as impact evaluation, impact strategy, and leadership coaching.
While this study captures the initial phases of how Christian organisations have been affected by and responded to the coronavirus, there is a need for further research to apprehend the full extent of the coronavirus’ effect on churches and Christian charities. As Stewart McCulloch of Stewardship observed in a recent webinar with Eido Research, ‘this is only the beginning…. We’re still in the response phase, which will probably last some months yet, so this disaster is still unfolding, and then there is a long recovery ahead’. These initial results suggest, however, the amount that churches and Christian charities have to contribute to the UK’s coronavirus response: while they face serious financial and organisational trials, they have so far been able to adapt to continue serving their communities.
To find out more, or to partner with Eido Research in studying the effects of Covid-19 on Christian organisations, please email samuel@eidoresearch.com
