Ellison Research released a new study showing that one out of every four Protestant churches in the United States has virtually no involvement with the World Wide Web. "The study, among a representative sample of 871 Protestant church ministers nationwide, explored how churches use Web technology. It shows 27% of all churches have no connectivity at all – no staff e-mail, no Web site, and no Internet connection."
In January 2005 after reading a similar study based on Internet use by church size, I questioned whether the age of the pastor might be a factor. This year's report confirmed my intuition that younger generations of pastors are more likely to make use of technology:
The proportion of churches making some use of the Internet is lower in the South (65%) than it is in other parts of the country. The smallest churches (with fewer than 100 in the congregation) are much less likely to use the Internet (60%) than are mid-size (100 – 199 people – 86%) or larger churches (200 people or more – 96%). Churches led by older ministers are also much less likely to be connected than are those with a pastor under the age of 60.
AnthonyCoppage.com Church Tech Blog takes issue with small churches who claim that expense is an issue...read the comments to his post for additional insight.
The full report is available from Ellison Research.