Does religious nourishment week to week matter? Many attend and many worship with other saints from home online or watching a religious service on television. We prefer worshiping in person and wish everyone could and would.
Gallup recently released a poll that the people who worshiped regularly were the only group that did not show mental decline during this crazy year of pandemic, social, and political unrest. In fact those who worshiped regularly actually reported an increase in mental well-being over the year 2019! While on average only 34% of Americans said their mental health was excellent, 46% of weekly worshipers said their mental health was excellent, an increase from 42% in 2019. Interestingly, weekly worshipers were the only group who reported that their mental health was excellent saw an increase during 2020!
Those who seldom/never attend worship, however, dropped significantly from 42% (2019) to 29% (2020) who rated their mental health as excellent.
Weekly spiritual nourishment during hard times actually brings better mental health.
Americans’ Mental Health Ratings Sink to New Low (gallup.com)
Phil Sanders
