RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION’S ONLINE COMMUNICATION DURING PANDEMIC (A CASE STUDY ON KRAMAT PULO SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH IN THE TIME OF COVID-19 OUTBREAK)

Abstract

Religious organizations are now forced to change their form of communication into online communication because of government policies that urge religious organizations to postpone carrying out religious activities in places of worship in order to reduce the level of transmission of the Covid-19 outbreak. Organizational communication is the process of delivering information and building understanding from individual to individual, or individual to group within an organization. This study raises the issue of online communication as a new form of communication in religious organizations with a focus on knowing the type of online communication used, the flow of online communication of religious organizations, and barriers in online communication. With a qualitative approach used on this research, researchers also used a case study method. Collecting data using in-depth interview and observation techniques. The subject of this research is the administrator of the Kramat Pulo GMAHK organization. The results of the study show that online communication of religious organizations uses asynchronous communication social media such as Facebook, Youtube, and Whatsapp Group as a means of disseminating information, coordinating, and alternative means of religious deepening activities. Meanwhile, synchronous communication media such as Zoom is intended as a substitute for religious activities or worship services, and organizational meetings. The flow of organizational communication online in the process of disseminating information is vertical linear from the leader of the organization to the bottom. Technical barriers, such as internet network problems, are a major problem in online communication of religious organizations.