How the sound of religion has changed in the pandemic

Performing rituals online also opened up opportunities for religious tourism and hearing religious sounds in new places. Some of our submissions are live-streamed services recorded by practitioners who always wanted to visit a particular worship space in their own tradition, such as an Episcopalian attending Easter services at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Others are recorded by people who wished to visit a new religious community, as in the case of non-Muslim contributors who “visited” online mosques during the month of Ramadan. …

The pandemic is inspiring new, innovative ways of imagining what it means to be a community and who is included as part of that community.

As houses of worship begin to reopen, we are interested in tracking which of these changes may endure and which may prove more fleeting.

By Amy Derogatis, Michigan State University & Isaac Weiner The Ohio State University