an article via Discovery News makes an interesting suggestion: it’s not the “spiritual engagement” but rather the “tight community” that makes religious people happier. The study notes that congregations, especially, are centers of happiness… but further investigation reveals people who go to church every week but say they have no close friends there are not any happier than people who never go to church. Further, people seem to get more satisfaction out of church friends than they do out of other friendships. It’s an interesting study and while I don’t think that community alone explains everything, it does illustrate further the so-necessary connection between faith/vision and community.
I’ve heard of studies before that look at the problems of churches “plateauing” at a certain membership level… (I need to look some of those up and link them here; if you know of some feel free to mention them in the comments)… but if you can break that level, then the social value of the church network will help it to continue to build. Churches become more valuable with each additional member–provided that each additional member becomes a connected part of the network.
If people don’t become a connected part of the network in a church, then a congregation has less in common with a social network and more in common with, perhaps, a bar that features a really great band and perhaps a stand up comedy hour?
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