Social Distance, Digital Congregation: British Ritual Innovation under COVID-19
Lead Research Organisation:
Manchester Metropolitan University
Department Name: School of Art
Abstract
Religious rituals do work, essential social work, according to both ritual theorists and the UK government, which has recognized clergy as key workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Funerals, weddings, birth rituals, and holiday observances are vital to people's psychological wellbeing and sense of community, especially given the sense of unease created by the pandemic. But the key means by which clergy do this vital work-live communal ritual-is not possible during lockdown conditions. And so ritual specialists have been forced to improvise means of moving rituals online, something which is virtually unknown to most mainstream clergy. Because these improvised innovations are being done quickly by busy practicing clergy with little co-ordination between them, they are not being collected or studied in a systematic or detailed way. The full implications of these innovations are thus not being adequately considered or developed in ways that could be beneficial for the wellbeing of Britons of all faiths long after the pandemic is over.
This project will fill that gap. It will work with religious professionals of a range of faiths from across Britain to capture, analyse, nurture and develop these fire-forged innovations and the possibilities they facilitate, using digitally-led methods drawn from digital religion, online religion and performance studies, including involving subjects in action research. These findings will be shared broadly and accessibly for the benefit of the field. They will also contribute academically to ongoing discussions of the changing practices of religion and ritual in the era of digital culture.
This project will fill that gap. It will work with religious professionals of a range of faiths from across Britain to capture, analyse, nurture and develop these fire-forged innovations and the possibilities they facilitate, using digitally-led methods drawn from digital religion, online religion and performance studies, including involving subjects in action research. These findings will be shared broadly and accessibly for the benefit of the field. They will also contribute academically to ongoing discussions of the changing practices of religion and ritual in the era of digital culture.
Publications
Edelman JA
(2021)
British Ritual Innovation under COVID-19
Edelman JA
(2021)
Plague Rites: Perfforming Ritual Innovation in COVID-19 Britain
Edelman JA
(2021)
British ritual resilience under a pandemic - the BRIC-19 project.
Edelman JA
(2021)
Plague Rites: Perfforming Ritual Innovation in COVID-19 Britain
Kolata P
(2023)
Navigating inclusion: 'home-making' in the UK Shin Buddhist community
in Religion, State and Society
O'Keeffe, E.
(2023)
Finding Data Pathways Through the ''Pandemic Pilgrimage Boom': Embedded-like Research, COVID-19, and the British Pilgrimage Trust
in International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage
| Title | Granny Jackson's Dead |
| Description | An immersive theatre performance created by Big Telly Theatre Company in Northern Ireland, titled Granny Jackson's Dead, which was peformed as part of the NI Science Festival. It took the form of a fictional wake, and addressed issues of memory, technology, familiy, identity in the contemporary world. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | This was a resaerch projct, run jointly between Manchester Metropolitan University and the National Centre for Social Research, which aimed to capture an educated public dialgoue about grief and technology. We collected responses from the audience during and after this performance, and intend to publish our results in due course. But clearly, the performance led to a considerable public debate - in person, in the press, and online - on the ethics, practicality, and wisdom of the development of grief tech. |
| URL | https://padlet.com/EOK2021/granny-jackson-s-dead-a-project-about-death-memory-and-techn-quwnbdcovc6o... |
| Description | • By almost every metric, the experience of pandemic rituals have been worse than those that came before them. They are perceived as less meaningful, less communal, less spiritual, less effective, and so on. • Human connection seems more important to congregants than technical quality or spectacle. Worshippers tend to prefer forms of online worship that are more interactive (such as those done as conference call software) over those that deliver a 'better' audio and visual quality (such as streaming video). • While the disembodied nature of online practice could make some rituals feel distant or inauthentic, the ability of worshippers to join communities far from their homes has nevertheless been perceived as a significant positive development that is likely to continue. This is especially for people with disabilities, for those who do not have a local congregation that serves their religious needs, or for members of faiths whose numbers in the UK are relatively small. However, the relative overall dissatisfaction with online worship suggests a limit to the potential of online-only communities. Some form of online-offline hybrid seems likely to be the way forward. • Participants in larger communities found their experience of rituals during the pandemic to be significantly less positive than was the case for participants in smaller communities. This suggests that smaller communities were better able to maintain a sense of togetherness and mutual support through their rituals during this crisis, and that their convivial, small nature was a source of resilience rather than a weakness. We would urge those making decisions about the mergers and closures of communities to take this into account. |
| Exploitation Route | The project suggests new ways of thinking about religious life and ritual practice, and some of the main groups we worked with - and who were most eager to engage with our findings - were religous professionals. There are many ways in which religous professionals can use the results of this project in developing both their ritual lives and the way they organise their communities. In addition, others who work with rituals more indiretly - chaplains, death care professionals, those workign in the heritage and tourism sectors, and local officials with a responsibiility for community oversight - will (and have) found importnat insights in this report as to how they can create and facilitate more communal and engaing experiences in the digital era, whether they take place online or in person. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Government Democracy and Justice Culture Heritage Museums and Collections Other |
| URL | https://tinyurl.com/bric19 |
| Description | The research and its insights have been used by religious leaders across Britain to make the ritual lives of their congregations richer, deeper and more meaningful for those they serve. This has taken the form of the use of specific techniques and tools regarding streaming and worship via confernece call software, but more so, it has given religous leaders tools to re-think the nature Wof religious community, participation and belonging in the virtual age. We know this becuase of the many religous leaders who have reached out to us both to download the report and to ask us questions about our findings. Our findings recevied extensive coverage in the general press (especially via radio) and, of course, in the religous press. We have also received interesting contacts from RE teachers, and we are exploring how our work can be useful in the context of secondary RE education. We are also developing connections with those who do not necesasrily lead congregations, but work in allied professions, such as death care, public remembrance, or chaplaincy, and also those who have regulatory or governmental oversight responsibilities for these fields to make their work more effective, more responsive to the current situation and more humane. The project has also informed a recent collaboration with Big Telly Theatre Company, a leading northern Irish theatre company, which uses a performance and deliberation methodology to explore the overlaps between grief, memory and technology |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal Policy & public services |
| Description | Big Telly Theatre Company |
| Organisation | Big Telly Theatre Company |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | As part of the interest in the digital funerals and others forms of virtual memorialisation developed in this project, we worked with Big Telly - one of Northern Ireland's leading theatre companies - to develop a project about technology and contemporary grief. We helped developed the project, advised on its composition, and set up a system to capture and anlayse the audience's reaction to it. This performaance, in February 2024, was very sucessful, and we are discussing further practice-based resaerch projects to explore these issues. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Big Telly Theatre Company created, developed and produced the theatrical performance which we used as a practice-based resaerch method to explore questions of grief tech and contemproary grief technology. If we develop this partnership further, we expect that they will develop this or other productions for similar reasons. |
| Impact | The performance of Granny Jackson's Dead has already taken place, but it has not yet been written up as an academic output. This is an inter-disciplinary output. The disciplines of theatre, religion, and social policy are involved. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Council of Christians and Jews |
| Organisation | Council of Christians and Jews |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We are working with the Council of Christians and Jews, one of the UK's leading interfaith bodies, to provide guidance and academic context to their ongoing interfaith partnership programmes, to share our findings with their members, and to provide educational sessions on ritual development to their members and associates. We are also exploring further partnership possibilities going forward. We are particularly working with them on the development of interfaith commemorations, such as for Holocaust Memorial Day. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The CCJ has helped us develop the contacts and relationships we need to conduct a genuinely interfaith and pan-British research project, ensuring that we can include as wide as possible a range of voices in our research. They have helped circulate our survey, facilitated case studies, and provided a member to our action research group. They have similarly been very useful in ensuring that our process and results are shared with as wide as possible a segment of the British religiosu communtiy. |
| Impact | None yet, but this will change shortly. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Interfaith Scotland |
| Organisation | Interfaith Scotland |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We are working with Interfaith Scotland to provide guidance to their leadership and educational sessions to their members, and, in particular, to help them develop their practical work in interfaith pilgrimage. The project has been helpful enough that the leader of Interfaith Scotland has joined our action research group. We are also exploring further partnership possibilities going forward. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Interfaith Scotland has helped us develop our relationships with faith communities across Scotland to ensure that our surveys, interviews and research group reflect a broad range of Scottish society. This engagement has meant that Scots are properly represented in our surveys, it has facilitated an important caase study on interfaith pilgrimage in Glasgow, and has led to representation from Scotland in the Action Research Group. |
| Impact | None yet, but they will come. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | An ethical remembrance? Digital memorialisation under COVID-19 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation delivered at the event 'Connecting in the Time of Covid' (10 March 2022) by project RA Dr Eleanor O'Keeffe, looking at questions of remembrance in the case of COVID. Presenrtation was live, but also recorded for current and later broadcast. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.city.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/2022/march/connecting-in-the-time-of-covid |
| Description | Article 'Streaming Rosh Hashanah' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Article in on website JewThink on 18 September 2020 presenting the project, specifically with reference to the Jewish High Holidays |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.jewthink.org/2020/09/18/streaming-rosh-hashanah/ |
| Description | Article in The Tablet |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Publication about our research in the Tablet, a leading international Catholic news site. Written by project PI Dr Joshua Edelman and project RA Dr Paulina Kolata. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.thetablet.co.uk/blogs/1/1726/together-yet-alone-researching-the-paradox-of-worship-onlin... |
| Description | Article: 'How women's spiritual life has thrived during pandemic' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Summary of our research findings published in The Jewish Chronicle, 15 Oct 2021 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.thejc.com/community/community-news/how-women-s-spiritual-life-has-thrived-during-pandemi... |
| Description | BBC News interievw |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Co-I Dr Alana Vincent interviewed on BBC News about the results of our survey |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | BBC Radio Humberside interview to conicide with research publication |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Live interview on BBC Radio Humberside concerning our publcation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://tinyurl.com/bric19 |
| Description | COLRAC presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of project results to a meeting of the Conference of Liberal Rabbis and Cantors, UK, leading to requests for more information and potential change in practice. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Chaplaincy: A "Kaleidoscope" of Faith Exchanges & Spiritual Interactions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | An online panel jointly run by the Chaplaincy Everywhere network and our research project, looking at the present and future of chaplaincy. The project's RA, Dr Eleanor O'Keeffe, participated in presenting the chaplaincy case study from the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/chaplaincy-a-kaleidoscope-of-faith-exchanges-spiritual-interactions-r... |
| Description | Contribution to "The Future of Ritual" discussion |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Project PI (Dr Joshua Edelman) was the keynote speaker at the e online "The Future of Religion" conference hosted by Interfaith Glasgow, the Interfaith Centre of New York, and Cape Town Interfaith. where he presented interim findings of the BRIC-19 project. There were approximately 80 people on the conference, approximately equally split between New York, Cape Town, and Scotland. The ideas presented in the opening keynote were taken up by speakers throughout the event, and led to a number of participants requesting more information about the project or following our mailing list or on social media. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-future-of-religion-how-has-the-pandemic-changed-the-ways-we-pract... |
| Description | Day-long seminar presenting and discusing research findings |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A day-long seminar launching our final report (online at https://tinyurl.com/bric19) and discussing it with the research team. Conducted both live in Manchester and online. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | JCM Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The PI (Dr Joshua Edelman) gave the keynote 'Jewish Community in Times of Isolation' at the February 2021 (online) meeting of the International Conference for Dialogue between Jews, Christians and Muslims, the topic of which was 'How does the time of isolation change our ideas about religious community?' The keynote both presented initial results and the questions of the investigation and the PI's own personal observations, and shaped the rest of the week-long conference that followed. The conference involved religious believers and leaders from Germany, Indonesia, the UK, and Tanzania representing Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities. Approximately 70 people attended the conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.jcmconference.org/ |
| Description | Jewish News blog piece |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A blog piece in the Jewish News about the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/learning-how-jews-are-zooming-into-the-future-or-not/ |
| Description | Local BBC Radio discussions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | On 15th November, the project PI (Dr Joshua Edelman) was interviewed on a number of local BBC radio stations about the BRIC-19 research project, discussing the reasoning behind the project, generating public interest, and encouraging participation in the project. We noticed a substantial uptick in survey participation after these interviews. The schedule of those interviews is below. TIMES 0700 CAMBRIDGE REC pres:Louise prod:glenn.jones 0708 CORNWALL LIVE pres:julie prod:martin.bailie 0715 WILTSHIRE LIVE pres:Sue Kinnear prod:nick.jewers 0722 NOTTINGHAM LIVE pres:Frances prod:frances.finn 0730 ESSEX Presenter June Woolerton , Producer Andrew Merchant. 0738 DERBY LIVE pres:Donna prod:amy.frances 0745 YORK LIVE pres:Anna prod:richard.staples 0752 CUMBRIA LIVE pres:Richard prod:Richard.corrie =============== SERVICE =============== 0830 JERSEY LIVE pres:matthew prod:matthew.price 0838 SOMERSET LIVE pres:Matt prod:Kelly.withers (Trudi Harris ) 0845 BRISTOL LIVE pres:lucy tegg prod:sacha.bigwood 0852 KENT LIVE pres:Phil prod:jamie.glover01 0900 0908 LANCASHIRE LIVE pres:Joe prod:joe.wilson.01 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | MBRN conference presentation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Project RA Dr Paulina Kolata, presented a talk at the (online) symposium 'British Muslims and COVID-19,' sponsored by the Muslims in Britain Research Network, in December 2020. We presented the early stages of our project and built relationships, especially with the UK Muslim community, which is very important for the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | MMU Press release |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The university sent out a press release in October 2020 to generate excitement and interest in the project and to raise its profile. The press release was picked up by Radio Manchester, the (Manchester-based) Jewish News, and other independent journalists. There may be others, but these are the ones I know of. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/story/13073/ |
| Description | Pandemic and Beyond podcast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An episode of the "Pandemic and Beyond" podcast, hosted by the University of Essex-based project of that name, focusing on this research project, featuring interviews with Dr Joshua Edelman (project PI) and action research group member Revd Nathan Eddy of the Council of Christians and Jewsl |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://pandemicandbeyond.exeter.ac.uk/media/podcasts/ |
| Description | Premier Christian Radio interivew |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interiew with Premier Christian Radio regaridng the project findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Premier Christian Radio interivew |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The PI of the project, Dr Joshua Edelman, was interviewed on 30 October 2020 on Premier Christian Radio to introduce the project and raise public interest. Premier Christian Radio has a large and diverse Christian audience, and this interview helped us raise the profile of the project and recruit more particpants. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Press coverage of the final proejct report |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Our final event received extensive coverage in the print and online press. This is a selection of date, headline, source, country, and reach: 07-Oct-2021 06:00AM Pandemic online worship lacking 'presence' Winnipeg Free Press (Print Edition) Canada 01-Oct-2021 07:19AM Online religious worship during COVID difficult but here for the long-term, Manchester study shows About Manchester United Kingdom 30-Sep-2021 03:10AM Online church was challenging but opened up new opportunities, says report Naijaonpoint Nigeria 30-Sep-2021 01:00AM Manchester Metropolitan University : Online religious worship during COVID difficult but here for the long- ... ENP Newswire - Powered by Dow Jones United Kingdom 29-Sep-2021 04:25PM Digital church here to stay, according to new study Premier Christian News United Kingdom 29-Sep-2021 02:31PM Move to online worship a loss, not a gain, say universities' researchers Church Times United Kingdom 29-Sep-2021 01:09PM Online church was challenging but opened up new opportunities, says report Christian Today UK United Kingdom |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Press release for BRIC-19 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | A press release to the UK press concerning our final report, which led to responses from The Times, the Church TImes, the Muslim News, the Jewish Chronicle, The Friend, and others. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/story/14445/ |
| Description | Radio coverage of final event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Radio coverage of the project's final report and event, with the reach figure for each station. Total reach is over 22.2 million. The vast majority are BBC local stations, but note that the last is LBC. 03-Oct-2021 07:42AM BBC Humberside United Kingdom 61000 03-Oct-2021 07:38AM BBC Humberside United Kingdom 61000 30-Sep-2021 12:01AM BBC Hereford and Worcester United Kingdom 32000 30-Sep-2021 12:01AM BBC Cambridgeshire United Kingdom 36000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Manchester United Kingdom 71000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Tees United Kingdom 45000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Radio Coventry & Warwickshire United Kingdom 0 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Sheffield United Kingdom 75000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Northampton United Kingdom 28000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Wiltshire United Kingdom 24000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Guernsey United Kingdom 6000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Lincolnshire United Kingdom 31000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Cumbria United Kingdom 41000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Stoke United Kingdom 54000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC WM United Kingdom 77000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Newcastle United Kingdom 94000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Leicester United Kingdom 60000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Radio Surrey United Kingdom 0 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Derby United Kingdom 52000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Lancashire United Kingdom 74000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Suffolk United Kingdom 38000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Nottingham United Kingdom 59000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Oxford United Kingdom 21000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Cornwall United Kingdom 48000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Bristol United Kingdom 51000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Solent United Kingdom 79000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Devon United Kingdom 67000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Three Counties United Kingdom 44000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Berkshire United Kingdom 44000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Sussex United Kingdom 73000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Gloucester United Kingdom 32000 30-Sep-2021 12:00AM BBC Somerset United Kingdom 18000 29-Sep-2021 11:59PM BBC York United Kingdom 28000 29-Sep-2021 11:59PM BBC Merseyside United Kingdom 101000 29-Sep-2021 11:59PM BBC Norfolk United Kingdom 64000 29-Sep-2021 11:58PM BBC Essex United Kingdom 75000 29-Sep-2021 11:56PM BBC London 94.9 (Radio) United Kingdom 0 29-Sep-2021 11:55PM BBC Jersey United Kingdom 10000 29-Sep-2021 11:51PM BBC Leeds United Kingdom 78000 29-Sep-2021 07:30PM BBC Radio 6 Music United Kingdom 0 29-Sep-2021 07:00PM BBC 2 Radio United Kingdom 4491000 29-Sep-2021 07:00PM BBC Radio 5 Live United Kingdom 2035000 29-Sep-2021 07:00PM BBC Radio 4 United Kingdom 3280000 29-Sep-2021 05:39PM BBC Humberside United Kingdom 61000 29-Sep-2021 05:34PM BBC Humberside United Kingdom 61000 26-Sep-2021 09:05AM BBC Northampton United Kingdom 28000 26-Sep-2021 08:45AM BBC Wiltshire United Kingdom 24000 26-Sep-2021 08:00AM BBC Hereford and Worcester United Kingdom 32000 26-Sep-2021 07:54AM BBC Hereford and Worcester United Kingdom 32000 26-Sep-2021 07:47AM BBC Radio 4 United Kingdom 3280000 26-Sep-2021 07:42AM BBC Radio 4 United Kingdom 3280000 26-Sep-2021 07:35AM BBC Guernsey United Kingdom 6000 26-Sep-2021 07:33AM BBC Jersey United Kingdom 10000 26-Sep-2021 07:23AM BBC Norfolk United Kingdom 64000 26-Sep-2021 07:21AM BBC Manchester United Kingdom 71000 26-Sep-2021 07:05AM BBC Cumbria United Kingdom 41000 26-Sep-2021 07:05AM BBC Radio 4 United Kingdom 3280000 26-Sep-2021 07:00AM BBC Hereford and Worcester United Kingdom 32000 26-Sep-2021 06:36AM BBC Wiltshire United Kingdom 24000 26-Sep-2021 05:40AM LBC United Kingdom 280000 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Religion Media Centre |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Project PI Dr Joshua Edelman presented the an overview of the project to a regular briefing of the Religion Media Centre, which presents news and updates concerning religion from academics and faith leaders to press representatives on 26 January 2021. This led to increasing media inquiries, which have in turn led to further engagement. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Research website and blog |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We established a public-facing website to present the project to the general public, to recruit participants, to host the survey, and to raise impact. The site is at bric19.mmu.ac.uk, and will remain active after the project completes. The website also includes regular research updates in a blog-like format, and a mailing list, which currently has 45 subscribers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
| URL | https://bric19.mmu.ac.uk/research-updates/ |
| Description | Segment on Radio 4 PM programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An interview with Project PI, Dr Joshua Edelman, was broadcast on the Radio 4 PM programme on 6 November 2020. He discussed the challenges facing religious communities around the UK and presented the project. The interview was negotiated through religion journalist John McManus. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000p0tj. |
| Description | Social media engagement |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We set up social media channels to promote the project and share its findings: https://www.facebook.com/bric19researchteam on Facebook and @BRIC_19 on Twitter. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020,2021 |
| URL | https://www.facebook.com/bric19researchteam |
| Description | Summary of our resaerch in REOnline |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Our research was covered in the RE:Online website for religious educators across the UK. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.reonline.org.uk/research/british-ritual-innovation-under-covid-19-bric-19/ |
| Description | Synagogue Tech Forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Project PI Joshua Edelman was the featured guest on the weekly 'Synagogue Tech Forum' discussion, with tech leaders, rabbis, and others who do online streaming for synagogues worldwide, mostly in the USA. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | United Reform Church talk |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We presented the project's early stages to a national meeting of the United Reform Church in October 2020. We presented the topic to about 30 URC leaders, and solicited their participation. This was most importantly successful in building relationships with Black majority churches within the URC. The relationships we developed here led to two BMC case studies, greater BMC representation in our survey, and a BMC pastor on the action research group. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |