Online Church Statistics By Worshipers, Types, Broadcast, Online Giving, Reasons and Live Streaming Services

Barry Elad

Updated · Aug 16, 2023

Online Church Statistics By Worshipers, Types, Broadcast, Online Giving, Reasons and Live Streaming Services

Introduction

Online Church Statistics: As of reports, in the early 2000s online churches have started gaining popularity over the world. The Internet-based Christian communities are better termed ‘Online Churches” and “Internet Churches”. As the usage of the internet is enhancing thus online church services are using websites, social networking sites, media services, blogs, discussion rooms, chatrooms, and different electronic means for enabling social connection, religious education, and enrichment of faith. For people who are physically unable to attend in-person traditional services because of distance, illness, or disability for them this is the best platform. These Online Church Statistics include insights from various aspects that will provide light on understanding the basic concepts.

Editor’s Choice

  • In 2022, the rate of prayer engagement from home was preferred by 44% of people.
  • Online church services were streamed by 53% of practicing Christians.
  • Around 33% of church attendees first found their online church services across the world.
  • In America, 17 million people preferred visiting church websites and do not go to church on a regular basis.
  • By the end of 2022 church donations given online were above $2.2 million.
  • Especially people are attending online church services on Sunday mornings and some still prefer to visit the church.
  • The biggest supporters of the virtual church are young adults of African-Americans aged between 18 to 34 years which is almost 22% of the overall population.
  • Whereas, Americans watched online services of church by 45%, and 30% went to church.
  • Full-time online Pastor was available in 16% of worldwide churches those were having an average of 2.5 years of experience.

Facts About Online Church Statistics

  • As of 2022, weekly online church attendance turned out 72% and physical attendance covered 28%.
  • As per location across the world, local attendees of online church services covered 42% which is followed by evenly local and non-local (28%), 1 hour away (27%), and international (2%).
  • Live streaming services of churches are covered by 90% over the world.
  • Online church services have highly impacted giving as online churches are doing many important missional works. It has been observed that 48% of giving or donations have increased by online attendees, giving has stayed the same (30%), giving has decreased (4%), and unsure (28%).
  • As of 2023, the top church live-streaming services are VPlayed, Dacast, and Streamingchurch.TV, BoxCast, Christian WorldMedia, TruthCasting, MyChurchWebsite.Com, Vimeo, Muvi, SermonCast, and ChruchStreaming.TV.
  • The church that allows online services is Bethel Chruch (California), Eagle Brook Church (Minnesota), Free Chapel (Georgia), Longhollow Baptist Church (Tennessee), and Harvest Church (California).
  • On the other hand, the top online church for kids is Passion City Church Kids (Georgia).

Benefits of Online Church Services

  • Online services are only possible because of enormous internet facilities people across the globe now can become part of an online church.
  • These allow people to remain connected with religious practices, especially for those who are unable to travel such as old aged, sick, and disabled people.
  • Allow in enhancing more interaction with local people as well as people across the world.
  • Helped in mobilizing community events for many non-profit causes such as natural disasters.
  • Provide several mentorship programs with different communities that helped in increasing diversity among the online church members.
  • Allow in starting live broadcasting and creating video-on-demand channels for accessing online church services.
  • Bypass space limitations and connect with the youth.
  • These are accessible through all devices and provide new ways of engagement.

General Statistics

  • In the United States, 30% of U.S. adults participated in online church services for gathering information about religion.
  • Online church services used apps and websites that help in reading scripture by 21%.
  • Worldwide people watched religion-focused online videos by 20% and listened to religion-focused podcasts by 15%.
  • 14% of people used apps and websites that allow in reminding prayer timings.
  • 7% of people participated in online prayers, scripture studies, and religious educational studies.
  • Online giving was enabled by 88% of online churches across the world. Whereas, the giving was based
  • on the categories of Mega with 2000+ average worship attendance in which online giving of in person and online ($49.99).
  • Whereas the other categories are followed by emerging mega with 1000-1999 average worship attendance: online giving of in person and online ($54.90); Large with 500-999 average attendance: online giving of in person and online ($52.23); Medium with 250-499 average worship attendance: online giving of in person and online ($52.03); Small with 100-249 average worship attendance: online giving of in person and online ($45.43); Very small with 99 average worship attendance: online giving of in person and online ($51.25).
  • By the end of 2022, the U.S. was having heavy users of religious technology 16%, moderate users (10%), light users (20%), and non-users of religious technology (54%).
  • In 2022, revenue earned by online church services in the United States was around $74.5 billion.
  • The maximum donations were given by 77% of tithers which is 10% of their earnings.

Online Church Statistics by Worshipers

(Source: christianitytoday.com)

  • The number of worshipers who preferred online church services by the end of 2022 was slightly less than in church visits. The top worshiper of online or TV church services was Black protestants 28% and 26% preferred both online and offline.
  • Furthermore, other online church service worshipers were followed by white evangelical (19%), Protestant (18%), Christian (16%), worldwide adults (12%), and non-evangelical Protestants (12%).
  • As of 2023, the online church is mostly preferred by all churched adults (20%), boomers (22%), millennials (21%), and Gen X (18%)

Online Church Statistics by Types

Worshipers Still More Likely to Go to Church in Person

(Source: hubspot.net)

  • Online church is defined as an online campus or online ministry in which campuses include ‘church anywhere’, ‘i.Church’, or ‘Live Stream’.
  • The above graph describes the types of online churches in which online campus 36% of the share and followed by ‘church online’ (28%), online ministry (8%), online services (5%), Internet church (2%), and others (15%).

Online Church Statistics by Broadcast

  • For enabling the streaming services of online churches the most important factor are broadcast platforms and broadcast methods.
  • The statistics of top broadcast platforms are ‘Churchonlineplatform.com’ and ‘Facebook Live’ covered 76% and 77% respectively.
  • Furthermore, platforms are followed by YouTube (54%), Mobile Apps (45%), Vimeo (43%), and Podcasts (41%).
  • Whereas, the statistics of broadcast methods are followed by Live streaming (89%), On-demand full service i.e., message and worship (52%), on-demand message only (48%), Rebroadcast simulated live (35%), and others (17%).

Online Church Statistics by Online Giving

(Source: hubspot.net)

  • The biggest supporters of the virtual church are young adults of African-Americans aged between 18 to 34 years which is almost 22% of the overall population.
  • According to church online giving statistics, 51% of working Catholics donated online money by 2 to 11 times per year and 80% of Catholics have donated on a weekly basis to religious institutions.
  • The most common type of transaction used for online giving was 49% debit cards, 40% cash, 7% check, and the rest is other modes.
  • In the United States, 61% of the young generation didn’t donate much to churches.
  • Only 80% of the U.S. people have donated 2% of their income to online giving.

U.S. Online Church Statistics

  • In the 1st quarter of 2022 online church services were watched by 45% of American people.
  • After the pandemic, the online services of churches have increased by 3 times.
  • 53% of practicing Christians are now streaming online church in 2023.
  • Regular online church streaming was experienced by 40% of adults over the world.
  • In America, 17 million people preferred visiting church websites and do not go to church on a regular basis.
  • Around 33% of church attendees first found their online church services across the world.
  • Online church services were avoided by 50% of the protestant group, 20% of them preferred online church streaming (once or twice a week), 16% of them watched online streams (3 to 5 times), and 14% of them watched at least 6 times.
  • Regular live-streaming views aged between 18-34 years by 63% by the end of 2022.

Online Church Statistics by Reasons

(Source: pewresearch.org)

  • 43% of online viewers in 2022 said that convenience is the major reason for choosing online church services whereas, 31% said convenience is a minor reason.
  • 34% of viewers watched online church services as they live far away from the church is the major reason and 26% claimed it as a minor reason.
  • Online church services are safer because still in many countries people are facing post-COVID-19 symptoms and other illnesses suggested as major reasons by 25% of people.
  • 25% said online church facilities provided a way for them to keep up with the house of worship that they used to belong to as a major reason.
  • Due to several illnesses and disability people preferred online services termed as a major reason by 16% of viewers.
  • 8% major reason is the congregation only meets through online services.

Online Church Statistics by Virtual Church Services

  • According to the research of Pew Research Center survey, 27% of U.S. adults have watched regular virtual religious services over the Internet or television.
  • 17% of the U.S. adults have participated equally both in virtual services and services in person and the other 14% was not having any preference.
  • 28% of virtual church worshipers who attend services and 22% who only watched services onscreen have accepted that online services helped them to stay strongly connected with religion and other people.
  • 39% of users of regular virtual services enjoyed praying out loud, singing, or kneeling.
  • 25% of virtual viewers felt like active participants when they watched church services.
  • As of November 2022, the share of U.S. adults who have attended religious services was Protestant (43%), Catholic (24%), Jewish (19%), religiously unaffiliated (7%), White non-Hispanic (22%), Black non-Hispanic (48%), and Hispanic (30%)

Online Church Statistics by Live Streaming Services

  • As of 2022 the top live streaming service of the church was “Dacast” and the pricing of this service is segmented into 3 parts: starter plan ($39/month), event plan ($63/month), and scale plan ($188/month).
  • The other streaming services used are followed by “Streamingchurch. TV” The prices were basic unlimited plan ($79/month), premium unlimited plan ($127/month), and platinum plan ($179/month)
  • “BoxCast” prices were essential plan ($99/month), growth plan ($149/month), and experience plan ($199/month).
  • “ChristianWorldMedia” the prices were basic plan ($35/month), and pro plan ($89/month).
  • “TruthCasting” the pricing plan was $39.95/month and another option of Facebook Live and YouTube Live ($10/month)
  • “MyChurchWebsite.com” the pricings were first tier ($30/month), second tier ($60/month), and third tier ($100/month).
  • “Vimeo Premium” pricing was a Basic plan 14-day free trial, plus plan ($7/month), pro plan ($20/month), and Premium plan ($75/month).
  • “Muvi” the pricing was the standard plan ($399/month), professional plan ($1,499/month), enterprise plan ($3,900/month), and ultimate plan ($8,900/month).
  • “SermonCast” the pricing was VOD plans ($29/month), and Live streaming plan ($49/month).
  • “ChurchStreaming.TV” the pricing was the basic plan ($79/month), standard plan ($99/month), and premium plan ($139/month) 

Conclusion

As of now after completing the article on online church statistics it can be said that the rise of online services has increased after the pandemic. American people have mostly used the services of online churches and strongly believed in this platform as the online option enables many effective benefits for every people across the world who believed in Christianity religion. These articles include many important statistics hope will help you in understanding the importance of online church services

  • Statistics
  • FAQ.

    Why online church is better?

    Across the globe online church has helped in gaining greater reach of audience since before and in which technology played an important part by enabling better broadcasting and live-streaming facilities.

    Is online church the future?

    As of now it can be termed as the futures as in the United Stated almost 21% of adults have already engaged themselves over online services. Even worldwide people have experienced better results with increased memberships in several churches.

    Is social media good for online church?

    Yes, social media is termed as an effective tool because this platform help people in getting connected with online church services those who were previously unknown about the term.

    Barry Elad
    Barry Elad

    Barry is a lover of everything technology. Figuring out how the software works and creating content to shed more light on the value it offers users is his favorite pastime. When not evaluating apps or programs, he's busy trying out new healthy recipes, doing yoga, meditating, or taking nature walks with his little one.

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