Let’s Admit It, Digital Church is the New Normal: Use of Digital Tools in a Small Town Church

Abstract

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic from March till June 2020 and from November 2020 until
April 2021 Latvia experienced a state of emergency, during which the participation in church
services was very limited, or the services were suspended altogether. The present contribution
researches how to involve the existing younger church members more actively as well
as to reach out to people of a small town in Latvia by using digital technologies. It explores
the digital technologies that are used in churches, the impact the technologies have on the
thinking, spiritual disciplines and practices of individuals as well as on communities in general.
Valdemarpils in the Northern Kurzeme area was used as an example of a small town in
Latvia, and the Lutheran church in Valdemarpils was used as an example of a church that is
quite typical in size and age structure for Latvian Lutherans in the countryside. The solutions
explored in this article would apply not only to Latvia and not only to a Lutheran context, but
also to a broader ecumenical context. The method for the research was discourse analysis,
since the church in its services and other communication is using this language. However it
is a search for new forms of communication in the new social context.