Coronavirus, Church and You Survey

The Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education (MDCCE) at DCU’s Institute of Education is conducting a new all-island survey that measures the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on adult churchgoers.

This survey is part of an empirical study initiated at York St. John University investigating the impact for churchgoers in England, Scotland and Wales. The Irish study is led by Dr. Gareth Byrne, Director of the MDCCE and Dr. Bernadette Sweetman, post-doctoral researcher at the Centre.

The survey is open to all churchgoers over 18 years in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, bishops, priests, religious and lay people.

Dr. Gareth Byrne, Director of the MDCCE, explains:

It is important to document the response of churchgoers to the COVID-19 crisis and its impact on their faith lives and connection with Church.  We hope to capture evidence of people’s positive and negative experiences during this time, as well as indicators of possibilities and learning for the future.

As we pass the most severe period of lockdown, it seems a good time to assess how churchgoers have responded to the experience, and what they think the future might hold. How well have people coped with the pandemic? How has it been for clergy and ministry teams trying to work in this new environment? How have those receiving ministry found this novel experience? Will virtual ministry become part of the post-pandemic landscape, and will this be a good move for your church?

The online survey can be accessed at MDDCE Coronavirus survey.

Contacts details for the MDCCE research team are:

Dr. Gareth Byrne (Principal Investigator).  Email: gareth.byrne@dcu.ie

Dr. Bernadette Sweetman.  Email: bernadette.sweetman@dcu.ie

Full ethical approval of this study was provided by the Research Ethics Committee of the School of Humanities, Religion and Philosophy at York St. John University.