Technology has infiltrated every area of millennial life, and their life of faith is no exception.
The result of a new study out of Canada shows that 18- to 35-year-old millennials adopt digital religion that mostly complements, not substitutes, in-person worship. Even though millennials are heavy users of digital technology, the study suggests that this generation is keeping one foot firmly planted in the real world — at least when it comes to religion.
To find how digital religion plays a complementary role to in-person religious and spiritual activities in North America, University of Waterloo sociologist Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme analyzed the responses from 2,514 respondents. Participation in digital religion varies from using a Bible app to watching a spirituality-themed Instagram reel.
According to the study, 29% of Canadian millennials said they consume religious or spiritual digital content on at least a monthly basis, while 41% of millennials from the U.S. in the study reported consuming any kind of religious or spiritual digital content in the same cadence. Only 32% of U.S. respondents took the time to post about religion or spirituality on social media monthly, but only five percent said they do so without some form of in-person religion.
“We know that more and more people are turning toward digital mediums for spirituality such as chat groups with pastors, online sermons and religious content on social media,” Wilkins-Laflamme stated. “We’ve found that while digital religion isn’t necessarily attracting a lot of new millennials to participate, it is making the experience of those already involved richer.”
Paul McClure, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Lynchburg, praised Wilkins-Laflamme’s study. However, he noted that his own research shows that more screen time is associated with lower levels of religious commitment.
According to his latest study, increased screen time among U.S. youth ages 13 to 19 years is negatively associated with religious commitment, regardless of whether the parents are highly religious or not. “We cannot say for sure that screen-based media is actively making adolescents less religious,” McClure’s study reports, “but it is clear that screen time either displaces or substitutes for religious belief, identity and practice among adolescents from religious families.”
It should be noted that although digital worship continues to rise among many young adults, the brick-and-mortar church is not being replaced. Furthermore, the Gen Z, who are more “digital natives” than millennials, are likely going to keep the trend alive for years to come.
“Social environment does play an important role, with digital religion practices much more prevalent in the generally more religious U.S. context, compared with the generally more secular Canadian context,” said Wilkins-Laflamme. “Digital religion practices are often, but not always, tied to other in-person religious and spiritual activities among millennials.”