A recent study conducted by Barna Group on behalf of Alpha revealed some surprising insights about the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on evangelization as a result of churches going virtual, and how the Church should respond in a more hybrid-model future.

"We never had anything called Alpha online pre-pandemic. In fact, we thought in person was the most important," says Shaila Visser, national director at Alpha Canada and senior vice president for Alpha International.

"And then what happened is that we all had to pivot and move everything digitally and immediately we saw fruitfulness. We immediately saw that God is not limited by Zoom or by Microsoft Teams, but he can use it. We have seen Alpha just take off."

Online-only services presented outreach challenges for Christians who largely felt more comfortable inviting non-Christian friends to a physical location and event. Most believers indicated a preference for sharing their faith in the in-person context, as well. However, for the non-Christian, the format of the event or engagement didn’t matter nearly as much as the relationship and authenticity of the Christian friend.

More than half of unchurched adults, including three-quarters of those whom are non-Christians, said they wouldn’t be interested in any sort of religious invitation or interaction, no matter the context. This group was most open to an online church service, viewed alone, but only at a rate of 12%. For this group, the preference is for solo spiritual exploration or relational discussion over formal, communal participation.

"I can tell you that from my perspective there was so much opportunity that we perhaps were missing, and the pandemic has shaken us to the core," Visser says.

"I can't wait to be back to be in church with people. But I also don't want us to miss the digital opportunity before us. There is a moment in history now that we get to reenvision how we as the church do ministry both in-person and online, but how we reach people and do evangelism online."

One of the key takeaways from the study is that the greatest opportunities for digital evangelism revolve around relationships. Christians will need to get better about growing friendships and creating trust among those with whom they have online interactions. They will also need to focus on their own faith commitment and spiritual growth, as that is an indicator of how comfortable they are engaging digitally with non-Christian friends. The good news is, for those who are caring and authentic, two in five non-Christians expressed openness to participating in a friendly spiritual conversation.