Holleman Anna, Roso Joseph, Chaves Mark
Department of Sociology, Duke University, Box 90088, Durham, NC 27708-0088 USA.
Departments of Sociology and Religious Studies, and The Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, USA.
Rev Relig Res. 2022;64(1):163-188. doi: 10.1007/s13644-021-00477-8. Epub 2021 Nov 2.
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically upended religious life and placed significant strain on religious congregations. However, the effects of the pandemic were likely not felt evenly across the religious landscape.
We used data from the fourth wave of the National Congregations Study, gathered on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic in 2018-19, to identify the kinds of congregations that may have been especially vulnerable to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Using bivariate and multiple regression analysis, we examined two aspects of congregations' preparedness for the pandemic: technological infrastructure and financial stability.
We found that, while many congregations were technologically and financially equipped for a time of social distancing and economic recession, there were stark inequalities in levels of preparedness among congregations on the basis of race, class, size, urban/rural location, religious tradition, and the age of congregations' parishioners. In particular, Catholic congregations and congregations with older attendees tended to lack streaming or online communication capacities, and both rural and small congregations had more limited technological infrastructure and less financial cushion. Somewhat surprisingly, predominantly Black congregations were more likely to have worship streaming systems set up prior to the pandemic, though these congregations were more likely to lack other kinds of technological and financial infrastructure.
Though COVID-19's full impact on congregations will not be known for several years, these results highlight variations in congregations' readiness for the pandemic's challenges, and they show that COVID-19's impact likely has not been felt equally across the religious landscape.
新冠疫情极大地扰乱了宗教生活，给宗教团体带来了巨大压力。然而，疫情的影响在宗教领域可能并非均匀分布。
我们利用2018 - 19年新冠疫情前夕收集的全国宗教团体研究第四波数据，来确定哪些类型的宗教团体可能特别容易受到新冠疫情挑战的影响。
我们使用双变量和多元回归分析，考察了宗教团体应对疫情的两个方面：技术基础设施和财务稳定性。
我们发现，虽然许多宗教团体在技术和财务上具备应对社交距离措施和经济衰退的能力，但基于种族、阶级、规模、城乡位置、宗教传统以及宗教团体信徒年龄等因素，各宗教团体的准备程度存在明显不平等。特别是，天主教团体和信徒年龄较大的团体往往缺乏直播或在线通信能力，农村和小型宗教团体的技术基础设施更有限，财务缓冲也更少。有点令人惊讶的是，在疫情之前，以黑人为主的宗教团体更有可能建立了礼拜直播系统，不过这些团体更有可能缺乏其他类型的技术和财务基础设施。
虽然新冠疫情对宗教团体的全面影响在未来几年内尚不明朗，但这些结果凸显了宗教团体应对疫情挑战的准备程度存在差异，并且表明新冠疫情的影响在宗教领域可能并未被平等地感受到。
