A growing number of Protestant churches in the United States are holding contemporary worship services and utilizing modern technology.

According to the newly released study by Ellison Research of Phoenix, the greatest increases in contemporary worship styles have been in the proportion of congregations using video clips and graphic presentations such as PowerPoint.

Released earlier this month, the survey of 659 senior pastors of Protestant churches asked whether the overall style of worship in their church had changed in the last five years. 15 percent said their worship has become much more contemporary, and another 36 percent said it had become a little more contemporary. The study also explored specific worship elements or styles churches use today, compared to what was used five years ago.

In 1999, only 5 percent used PowerPoint or similar computer graphics presentations, but today the technology is used by 36 percent of all churches. Additionally, just 4 percent of the churches surveyed used video clips during worship services five years ago. Today, that is up to 29 percent. Three other elements increased by more than 50 percent over the past five years, including use of praise and worship choruses during worship, the use of Christian rock, pop or country and the use of drama skits or sketches.

Larger churches and churches led by younger ministers were most likely to have made a significant shift toward more contemporary styles, and Pentecostal churches were more than twice as likely to move in that direction.

The most significant changes is the Protestant worship over the past five years, there is one thing has remained fairly uniform---the length pastor's sermon. The average minister preaches for about 31 minutes, approximately the same as five years ago, with Pentecostals preaching the longest sermons (about 40 minutes on average) and Lutherans and Methodists preaching the shortest ones -- around 20 minutes.