COVID-19 Impact Survey of Building Use and Community Programs, Summer 2020

This survey by Partners for Sacred Spaces sought to explore how what takes place in sacred spaces was altered by the pandemic, and was drawn from 131 responses in June and July 2020. It found that while only 18% of sacred places surveyed were using their buildings for worship, 61% were in use for community serving programs. However, the pandemic had resulted in a profound loss of community serving programs. The reasons given for stopping most typically included guidance from government (73%), the need for social distancing (72%) and the need to protect vulnerable volunteers (66%). 34% had resumed community serving programs by the time of the survey, and 28% hoped to resume by the end of the year. 30% of respondents expect the current health crisis to result in decreased revenue from lost space-use income, resulting in an overall deficit at the end of the year.