The impact of COVID-19: conversations with faith communities

Section One - The impact of the pandemic on society

The pandemic has had far reaching effects on health, society and the economy in Scotland and across the world. The protection measures including physical distancing rules and guidance also led to disruption to health services, education, work, leisure, community and neighbourhood life.

Available evidence has shown that this has been a period with high levels of anxiety, loneliness, and these impacts have been worse for some groups, particularly disabled people, younger people, and people on low incomes.^{[1] [2] [3]}

These, and other effects are diverse, diffuse and ongoing. Understanding the impact of the pandemic requires in-depth and triangulated research and analysis. It needs to consider the experiences in different places and for smaller groups within the population. It also needs to have research that is based on accounts of direct experience, as well as secondary analysis from administrative and survey datasets.

Faith communities during the pandemic

Faith communities are based around social relationships, networks and shared religious practice. They have vital engagement with their members and their wider communities, through their services, buildings and voluntary activities. These are provided for their own members and for other people outside of their organisations.^[4] A large proportion of people in Scotland are members of, or engage with, and benefit from the work and activities of faith communities.^[5]

The pandemic has disrupted many of the areas of life that are important to faith communities.

This research sought to get stories and accounts from people in Scotland, who have direct experience of these disruptions.

The research asked about three main things:

1. What aspects of community life have been lost (and gained) during the pandemic?

2. What are faith communities' priorities for the future?

3. What might help or get in the way of these priorities?

The research was done by a social researcher in the Scottish Government Central Analysis Division and involved conversations with a small number of members and leaders of faith groups, who have first-hand experience of the effects of the pandemic. It involved people who were involved as leaders from Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Jewish communities.

This is qualitative research, that aims to provide deeper insight into a relatively small number of experiences. This sought to draw out and illustrate some of the things that may be felt in other communities, but this report doesn't present a representative or complete view of faith communities. For instance, all of the interviews took place in the context of urban settings in the central belt of Scotland, and there is no presentation here of experiences in other parts of Scotland or rural communities.

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to the people who gave up their time to offer their insights for this research.

What are faith communities?

There isn't a standard definition of faith communities that captures their full diversity, but there are characteristics that many communities share:

• Faith communities are (typically) groups of people who have a connection to a religious tradition, who gather for religious worship, prayers, celebrations, and social and charitable activities.
• Faith communities may have strong connections with national and international religious institutions, but may also have long embedded histories within their neighbourhoods and geographical areas.
• People in faith communities may have formal and informal roles and varying levels of association. There may be a core group of people who participate regularly in formal worship, and a network of other people with affiliations to the community at a looser level. Not everyone within a faith community might attend a venue, or gathering, but these looser types of membership remain vital.
• Faith communities may have a prominent physical presence (buildings, activities, meeting places) within an area, and also non-physical functions that contributes to the health of the community (through their services (including e.g. funerals and work with bereaved people and families) networks of people, their volunteering, their knowledge and experience, and long-term practical and emotional investments).^{[6] [7]}
• Faith communities may be the only organised group that remains in some settings, particularly in deprived, or rural settings.

Faith communities provide social, economic, cultural, and societal resilience value, in the places where they exist.

"People use different phrases, but there is the narrative beyond yourself, and your interests. In a bowling club or a choir, the interest is to sing or play bowls. The faith community is people embracing a narrative beyond yourself, or a wider, deeper narrative about being human, depending on your theology." (Christian participant)