A professor at Baylor University, Byron Johnson, who has studied this for years, puts it this way: “There is a mounting body of evidence suggesting that people who are active in their faith tend to be the recipients of a number of important physical and mental health benefits.”
The WSJ article really focuses on mental well-being and highlights that places of worship can provide community and belonging, especially in helping to counter isolation and loneliness and depression.
These findings, it should be noted, come at a time of declining regular attendance at worship services across the country at the same time that rates of depression and anxiety are rising. Young people in particular have low rates of church attendance and they are reporting more and more often that they feel lonely and anxious.
So, our task is pretty clear. Those of us who know that God is good for you need to be constantly sharing this message with others and inviting them to come and join us. And it is not just for your mental health, as important as that is, it is every aspect of our being that God is good for – our purpose and direction and meaning, our salvation.
So, as we sometimes say here at Southport United Methodist Church, share the Grace and Hope of Jesus with everyone you can, in every way you can.
Pastor Duane
