Abstract
Abstract Religious traditions, practices, and affiliations have grown out of man's desire to understand the natural world and his place and purpose within it. Throughout the centuries, the sociological influence of religion has gathered people together and driven them apart—through foreseen and unforeseen circumstances. Before the Industrial Revolution and the rise of French rationalism, the Church strongly influenced Western civilization’s spiritual and religious unity. Religion’s cohesive social properties enabled societies to weather unexpected storms. The tumultuous arrival of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic epitomizes one such unforeseen event—an upending of humanity's ordinary way of life, including its religious practices.
This case study will explore the socially complex phenomenon of the COVID-19 impact on New Hampshire (NH) Catholic worship trends and laity affiliation. The research will investigate the pre-pandemic factors that have plagued the Church—its moral and ethical decline, personified by church scandals, contemporary ecclesiological failures, and perceptions of gender equality—and their interconnectedness with post-pandemic factors of affiliation and attrition. Laity and ordained ministers will describe how these factors influence current Catholic faith practices. In addition, the acceleration of mediatized religious consumption resulting from the loss of in-person access to worship services will be investigated to identify changes to current and future faith-practicing trends. The findings from this study may provide Church leaders with valuable insights for developing contemporary evangelical strategies to regather their flocks.
Keywords: coronavirus, pandemic, laity, evangelization