Digital Emancipation or Digital Reconfiguration? Mediatization of Religion and the Rise of Church-Owned Platforms during and after COVID-19

Résumé

This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the relationship between media and religion, with a particular focus on how the crisis accelerated shifts in religious mediatization. Prior to the pandemic, access to mass audiences was largely mediated by secular media systems characterized by commodification, in which visibility was often contingent on financial capacity and dominated by a limited number of prominent televangelists. This study argues that the pandemic disrupted this model by compelling religious institutions to develop and adopt their own digital communication infrastructures, marking a shift toward partial platform autonomy. Drawing on mediatization theory, the study conceptualizes this transition as a form of digital emancipation, whereby religious organizations reduce their dependence on traditional media gatekeepers and expand their capacity to engage audiences directly. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study analyzes audience data and engagement metrics from Christ Is the Answer Ministries (CITAM) Church Online platform, alongside institutional reports on reach and impact during and after pandemic-related restrictions. Findings indicate a gradual but sustained increase in online participation, coupled with significant global reach, suggesting the normalization of digitally mediated worship and the emergence of interactive digital congregations. However, the study also finds that this shift introduces new dynamics shaped by platform logics, audience expectations, and production demands. The paper concludes that while COVID-19 catalyzed a move toward greater communicative autonomy for religious institutions, this transformation represents not a complete rupture from mediatization, but a reconfiguration of it within digital environments.