A Rapid Assessment of Key COVID-19 Themes in African American YouTube Religious Sermons

Background: As social distancing became a pervasive public health necessity during COVID-19 pandemic during the Spring of 2020, the exponential use of digital technology impacted the worldview and health behavior context of African American churches in unknown ways. Digital sermons may be among the most effective and necessary ways of reaching African American congregations regarding behavioral and cognitive strategies to remain healthy during the age of COVID-19. Our purpose was to conduct a rapid thematic assessment of digital sermon key content and to identify health promotion and content representing barriers to health embedded in digital sermons during the initial social distancing period of the COVID-19 pandemic between March and April 2020. Methods: Our qualitative study of 17 randomly selected sermons indicates that digital church communication creates a viable messaging platform for churches during social distancing. Results: Four main themes were identified in the sermons: (a) clarifying COVID-19 church health policies, (b) disconnectedness and reconnection (c) biblically based resilience and health self-agency, and (d) faith, fear, and health. Conclusion: We discuss implications for future social marketing interventions in churches through enhanced support for digital sermon delivery as a valuable health messaging platform for African American faith communities.