If religion is good for our mental health, why don't more people want to attend churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, or other places of worship? That's a question a friend asked me recently after reading my column about declining attendance at religious services.
Study after study has shown that people who are part of a worshiping community tend to have better health, less depression, and a more positive outlook on life.
For example, a 2024 Harvard School of Public Health study found that regular weekly religious attendance is linked to “lower mortality risk, reduced depression, reduced suicide, improved cardiovascular disease survival, improved health behaviors, marital stability, happiness, and greater purpose in life.”
Guadalupe Rodriguez Pino, left, sings with church members during a service in Fort Morgan, Colorado, Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023. Rodriguez and her husband have four U.S.-born children and are in the process of obtaining legal immigration status. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
A paper published by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2005 found a positive correlation between religion and mental health, as well as a healthier lifestyle through improved diet and reduced alcohol and drug use.
Kenneth I. Pergamen is a leading authority on the psychology of religion and spirituality. In a 2013 paper published by the American Psychological Association, Pergamen wrote that research shows that religion and spirituality generally help people cope with major life stressors, such as natural disasters, illness, the death of a loved one, divorce, and serious mental illness.
These positive religious coping strategies include “spiritual support from God or a higher power, rituals that encourage transformation in one's life, spiritual forgiveness, support from religious institutions and clergy, and reframing stressful situations into a larger, more compassionate system of meaning,” he said.
In Canada, a 2020 study found that religiosity and spirituality are associated with a range of positive health outcomes and the absence of a range of negative mental illnesses. People who regularly attend church report less depression and less psychological distress.
“People who are more religious or spiritual are more likely to thrive psychologically and at the same time avoid psychological illnesses,” the study concluded.
Another Canadian study from 2023 found that not only was religion and spirituality associated with better mental health for all participants, but that the association between religion and spirituality and better mental health was even stronger among older adults, which is noteworthy given Canada's aging population.
But despite all the evidence that religious beliefs have positive mental and other health outcomes, Canadians are turning away from faith. Friends are asking: “What's wrong?”
Some may blame the media for only reporting on the bad things that happen within religious institutions: sexual abuse by clergy, violence perpetrated in the name of God, and the historically horrific abuse in church-run boarding schools.
But some of the responsibility also falls on religious organizations: Many don't share much about the good work they do, and only a few have dedicated communicators on staff who can relay the stories to the media or share them on social media.
All of this adds up to what Ray Pennings, vice-president of Cardus, a Canadian Christian think tank, called a “public relations problem” for religious groups in the country.
While these religious groups do many positive things — hosting food banks, offering social service programs, running groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, helping refugees and welcoming newcomers — those aren't what most Canadians think of when they think of religion. Pennings said that for many people, what comes to mind when they think of religion is mostly negative.
To back up his claim, he cited a 2023 Cardus survey, which found that 31% of non-religious Canadians believe religion contributes more harm than good to Canada, while 15% believe religion is a very bad thing for society.
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To counter this, Pennings encouraged religious organisations to learn to tell their own stories outside their own walls in an authentic way, rather than focusing solely on leaders, doctrines and public statements.
At the same time, when bad news happens (and it will), they “need to deal with it honestly and transparently, without running away from mistakes and challenges,” he said.
So what's the answer to my friend's question? Would religious institutions just need to tell more positive stories? That would be a good start. That would be an important way to balance the negative stories that are always being told.
But churches could do what most businesses do when sales fall: talk to their members and other “customers” to find out what's wrong and what they want from their religious institutions now. That could even provide important clues about how to reverse the decline.
faith@freepress.mb.ca
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John Longhurst
Faith reporter
John Longhurst has written for Winnipeg Faith Pages since 2003. He also writes for the U.S. Religion News Service and blogs about media, marketing and communications at Making the News.
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