(RNS) — As houses of worship remain closed due to shelter-in-place orders across most of the United States, and significant numbers of them stream their worship services online, clergy and others are no doubt asking how well virtual delivery is feeding the faith of their members. 

Some answers can be had from a Pew Research Center (via the Roper Center) survey conducted April 20-26, in which Americans were asked about their religious faith and how their houses of worship have reacted to the changes brought about by  COVID-19.

The first bit of good news is how many people said their houses of worship were able to go online. Of those affiliated with a religious tradition, 81.2% indicated that their house of worship had shifted to broadcasting services over the internet.

Even better from the clergy’s point of view is that their members who have gone online report a larger growth in faith than those whose services have not moved to online streaming. Of those who had moved online, 42.4% said that their faith had grown stronger. For those without an online service to watch, the share of those who said that their faith had grown was a more modest 30.9%. Only very small shares of either group said that their faith had gotten weaker because of COVID-19.

It’s perhaps little surprise that the beneficial effect of online worship is especially true for those who attended services most frequently before the…

More than 20 Christian leaders have joined together to sign a letter asking Congress to earmark an extra $4 billion for protecting the upcoming election and its voters.

According to Relevant Magazine, the leaders argue in the letter that “any effort to discourage or suppress their vote assaults their human dignity and undermines our democracy.”

“As Christian leaders who represent and lead a broad cross-section of the church across the country, we also believe that voting is a sacred right and commitment, particularly given our nation’s long struggle to extend the right to vote to every eligible citizen regardless of factors such as race and gender,” the letter continues.

The letter comes after problems were reported in recent primary elections. In Wisconsin, voters faced long lines and exposure to COVID-19. There were about 36 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among voters and poll workers.

“COVID-19 presents an imperative to redefine our priorities. For many communities, we need funding and bold leadership to secure free, fair, and safe elections,” said Barbara Williams-Skinner, CEO and co-founder of Skinner Leadership Institute. “We need ample vote-by-mail, early voting and in-person voting access to fit the needs of each and every voter, all of whom are made in the image of God.”

Dr. Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, wrote…

A Kentucky megachurch pastor is encouraging churches across the nation to “stand up” for their religious freedom and meet in-person Sunday, May 17, even if their state’s restrictions forbid it.

The “Peaceably Gather” movement by Pastor Brian Gibson of HIS Church in Owensboro, Ky., has attracted the support of nearly 50 pastors at churches in a dozen states who have signaled they will gather their congregations for an in-person service. HIS Church is a large Kentucky congregation that has four locations.

Gibson is encouraging churches, synagogues and mosques to practice social distancing and to be “measured” and “smart” with the services. But he says the state bans on church services and religious assemblies are infringing on constitutional rights.

He questions why stores are allowed to open, while churches must remain closed.

“I believe that Jesus is a lamb, but He’s also the lion,” Gibson says in a video on the Peaceably Gather website. “… Right now, America needs some lions to stand up and roar. America needs some lions to stand up and roar for the Constitution. [America] needs some lions to stand up and roar for religious freedom. [America] needs some lions to stand up and roar for people of worship of every type in this great nation.”

It was smart, Gibson says, for churches to close for the coronavirus pandemic.

“To be a…

A California church has organized an army of volunteers to repair 263,000 protective masks and deliver them to local healthcare workers.

Masks have become an essential piece of personal protective equipment for frontline workers in the fight against coronavirus. 

According to a Press Released sent to Christian Headlines, the enormous project, which involved over 4,200 volunteers, was coordinated by the Rock Church in San Diego and began after the County of San Diego’s Medical Operations Center asked for assistance with the retrofitting of their N95 respirators that were beyond their manufacturer’s date.

Soon, some 4,284 San Diego volunteers were pulling three-hour shifts in order to get the job done – a total of 12,852 hours work were completed, saving the county an estimated $191,238.

A member of the San Diego board of Supervisors, Greg Cox, shared, “My thanks to the Rock Church and its volunteers for fixing 300,000 masks that will be given to the County to help us fight this pandemic. The Rock Church rocks!”

Speaking on why the church decided to get involved in the monumental effort, lead pastor Miles McPherson said: “Jesus did not simply sit in the synagogue and wait for people to come to Him. He went to them. He also asked a very simple question. He said, “What can I do for you?” This is a simple and powerful thing to do. Just ask how you can help.”

After…

A new Dude Perfect documentary that has jumped into YouTube’s Top 10 and amassed millions of views also provides a peak into the group’s faith.

Dude Perfect: Backstage Pass, is a YouTube Original film that landed on the platform May 11 and tells the history of the five friends who went viral a decade ago with basketball trick shots and then expanded their base with comedy routines. The movie is a part of Dude Perfect’s channel, which has 51 million subscribers. 

Much of the documentary follows Dude Perfect on its 2019 tour. It also gives fans a look at their family life and faith. 

The film includes footage of their families gathering around them and praying before they embarked on the first live tour of their career. It also shows the men praying over a 6-year-old boy during the tour. 

Dude Perfect consists of Tyler Toney, twins Cory and Coby Cotton, Garrett Hilbert and Cody Jones.

“If we lost everything tomorrow, it doesn’t matter. We know that the most important thing we have is Jesus,” Hilbert says in the film. “So it’s very important to the decisions we make and the content we produce.”

Says Coby Cotton, “I think making content that was family-friendly came initially from our faith in Jesus, and we felt like that was something that we really truly wanted to do.”

Faith, Toney says, is “really the underlying principle and theme behind everything Dude…