Connected Faith: A Survey of Black Digital-Religious Beliefs and Practices

“To aid North American pastors and lay leaders in effectively ministering in the digital era, this study uses data to capture a fascinating portrait of how the digital Black Church is transforming American religion at present. ”

Team Members/Contributors

Erika Gault University of Arizona Contact Me

About this project grant for researchers

During the early months of the pandemic, which coincided with ongoing protests for racial justice, many houses of worship began closing their physical doors, leaving pastors and lay leaders struggling to find their footing in the new digital context. My project aims to help the Black Church—and the Church generally—by generating data that facilitates global thinking, which in turn can help local churches (especially Black churches) respond meaningfully to the new and fluctuating forms of digital faith formation. The Project Grant for Researchers will support the planning and implementation of an online survey and analysis of the digital religious practices and beliefs of Black people in the United States. Over the 15 month-award cycle, this study will use a grounded approach and draw on a non-random sample of approximately 500 participants. As the Principal Investigator, I will coordinate the deployment of an online survey to generate the project’s primary dataset. A Louisville Institute Project Grant for Researchers will allow me to fund needed data collection and management services, provide modest compensation to research participants, and leave a small amount for me to hire a summer research assistant to assist with data analysis.