Online hymn database sees spike as Christians worship at home

In 2020, we celebrated holidays at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We worked at home, attended school at home, even attended worship services at home.

Many Christians also turned to hymns for comfort at home, according to Hymnary.org. Users of the online database doubled as the coronavirus closed many church buildings this spring.

“I do think that this time we’re in, when everything is turned upside down, makes everybody search for meaning, opens them up to the presence of God, looking for ways to express their spirituality—so there are more people searching for such things,” said Harry Plan­tinga, a professor of computer science at Calvin University and founder of Hymnary.org.