The Blessing of Being the Church

In an article “Hope for a Worn-out Church” from Science for the Church, Drew Rick-Miller revealed these ominous statistics: Depression rates in the US population, which were 8.5% before the pandemic, increased from 27.8% in March/April 2020 to 32.8% a year later. That’s one in three Americans who are worn out with diagnosable symptoms of depression.

Thankfully, he also pointed out that hope is one of the better antidotes for depression. Such hope does not come from church growth or full pews. It comes from Jesus Christ. Jesus entered into our suffering and defeated sin, death, and the devil through His resurrection. One way we experience the hope of Christ is when the faithful gather, in-person and virtually, for worship.

Thankfully, we have been able to gather in both those ways for months, now. In an article by Harvard’s Tyler J. VandeWeele from 2017 here are some highlights:

• Regular church attendance over a lifetime translates to approximately seven additional years of life.

• It is associated with less smoking, drinking, and drug use.

• It leads to 20-30% lower rates of depression and 3-to-6- fold lower rates of suicide.

• It leads to life satisfaction, lower divorce rates, and a greater sense of meaning and purpose.

Attendance alone isn’t it. “Religious Attendance” is rather a proxy for the “black box” of activities packaged into “church” – all the forms of social support which come from a healthy faith community.

Thanks be to God that we belong – to Him and to one another. Thanks, furthermore, that we’ve been able to worship, witness, and serve!