Churches/Religious Faith:
Churches: Inherently Beneficial to Communities

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The contributions of the Christian religion to the welfare of a nation, state, and community are well known. Throughout history and still today, churches benefit communities through their moral influence upon society, social outreach programs, and through the individuals lives of the people who attend and live in those communities.

The Positive Influence of Churches Throughout History
A look back at history reveals the church behind the birth of many of the freedoms we enjoy today as well as our overall progress as a nation. Unfortunately the mispractice of religion, (as seen in the Crusades, some wars involving religion, and types of unhealthy religious practice), has been used by some to downplay the religion’s extraordinary influence for good. But the overwhelming benefits brought by Christ and His followers over the last 2,000 years have been clearly seen in science, medicine, education, and law – nearly every arena of modern life :

• Hospitals – the rise of which essentially began during the Middle Ages by Christians.
• Universities - also begun during the Middle Ages. Most of the world’s greatest
  universities were started by Christians for Christian purposes.
• Literacy and Education for the masses.
• Capitalism and Free Enterprise.
• Representative Government – particularly as it has been seen in the Americanexperiment.
• The Separation of Political Powers
• Civil liberties
• The Abolition of Slavery
• Modern Science
• The Condemnation of Sexual Immorality – fornication, promiscuity, adultery, homosexuality and other sexual perversions, which helped preserve the human race and spared many from heartache.
• The Elevation of Women
• Benevolence and Charity – The Good Samaritan Ethic.
• Higher Standards of Justice
• The Elevation of Common Man
• High Regard for Human Life
• Civilization of many barbaric and primitive cultures.
• Codifying and Writing of many of the world’s Languages
• Greater Development of Art and Music/Inspiration for the Greatest Works of Art
• Countless lives changed from liabilities into assets to society because of the gospel.

The Positive Influence of Churches Still Today
Our society has indeed become more secular compared to earlier in our country’s history. Yet more than half of Americans still attend a place of worship over a weekend, an index of religious practice unequaled anywhere in the world…” and nearly two-thirds of Americans (58%) believe that our country’s strength is based on religious faith . The church-at-large continues to have a vital impact on people and on the communities in which they reside. Whether it is through the church’s support or implementation of various programs, or through the lives of the individuals they touch, the church is performing the foundational work that ensures the success of secular society’s four basic institutions: marriage and family, school, marketplace, and government. Professional social science literature clearly documents the benefits that come from the practice of religion. Along with the benefits listed below, a sample of such documentation is provided.

Overall Influence of Religious Practice
There is ample social science evidence that:

I. The strength of the family unit is intertwined with the practice of religion. Regular churchgoers are more likely to be married , and more likely to manifest high levels of satisfaction in marriage. Regular churchgoers are also less likely to cohabit ( cohabitation before marriage poses a high risk to long-term marital stability) and Evangelical Christians are also less likely to divorce . Regular church attendance is the most important predictor of marital stability and happiness.

Churches encourage family commitment, which builds strong families and subsequently helps build stronger communities. “Middletown”, one of the century’s classic sociological research projects, studied the lives of inhabitants of a typical American town, first in the late 1920’s and for a third time in the 1980’s. Based on the latest round of follow-up research, professors at Brigham Young University concluded in 1985 that “There is a relationship between family solidarity – family health if you will – and church affiliation and activity. Middletown churchgoing members were more likely to be married, remain married and to be highly satisfied with their marriages ….. The great divide between marriage status and marriage satisfaction is…. between those who identify with a church or denomination and those who do not” .

The amount of quality time parents spend with their children is very important to a child’s development and success. Two recent studies show how regular church attendance is connected to parents being more involved with their children. Researchers at the University of Notre Dame recently found that in Hispanic families that regularly attend church, the parents are more likely to be involved in a child’s schooling, homework, and extra-curricular activities . Those students also generally perform better and are less likely to drop out. New research in the Journal of Marriage and Family shows that Evangelical fathers and Catholic dads top the list of spending one-on-one quality time with their children. Dr. Brad Wilcox, the University of Virginia sociologist who did the survey, explained why these dads head the list: “It’s an issue of church attendance. Both Evangelical and Catholic fathers are more likely to attend church on any given Sunday. Because of that, Wilcox said, their children are getting more family messages .

II. Religious affiliation and regular church attendance are near the top of the list for most people in explaining their own happiness.

Social and political scientists and social psychologists have been particularly interested in what makes human beings happy. Happy people tend to be productive and law abiding. They learn well, make good citizens, and are invariably pleasant company. Religious affiliation and regular church attendance serve as good predictors of who is most likely to have this sense of well-being. Happiness is greater and psychological stress is lower for those who attend religious services regularly. Those pursuing a relationship with God tend to have improved relationships with themselves and others .

III. The regular practice of religion helps poor persons move out of poverty. Regular church attendance, for example is particularly instrumental in helping young people to escape the poverty of inner-city life.

In 1985, Richard B. Freeman of the National Bureau of Economic Health reported that church attendance is associated with changes in behavior that increase the chances of black male youths escaping from their poverty stricken inner-city neighborhoods. Church attendance affects allocation of time, school going, work activity, and the frequency of social deviancy. Other studies show that young people who attend church frequently and live in at-risk poverty communities have more optimism more serious and realistic goals than those who do not attend church often. Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), the best national sample for tracking the development of youth from the late 1970’s, clearly indicate the difference regular religious practice makes for those who grew up in poverty in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Among those who attend church weekly in both 1979 and 1982, average family income in 1993 was $37,021; among those who never attended church in those same years, average family income in 1993 was $24,361 – a difference of $12,660.

IV. Religious belief and practice contribute substantially to the formation of personal moral criteria and sound moral judgment. For example, the regular practice of religion generally inoculates individuals against a host of social problems, drug abuse, teenage sexual activity, out-of-wedlock births, and crime.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been conducting a four-year research project with a nationally representative sample of high school seniors called the National Study of Youth and Religion. One portion of the study released in 2002, demonstrates that U.S. teens that participate in religious activities are less likely to participate in many delinquent and risk behaviors such as substance abuse, crime and violence . This study validates the need and benefit of reaching out to young people in our communities through church youth groups and activities. New data from Barna Research also confirms the long-term beneficial effects of going to church as a child .

The predictors of early sexual activity were recently identified by a team of pediatric researchers affiliated with the School of Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Teenagers are prone to experimenting with pre-marital sex if they come from a single parent home, and particularly if they feel few attachments to religious faith . In contrast, young people most likely to make and keep a pledge of virginity (which has been shown to delay sexual activity in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health), are kids who are more religious and more interested in school .

V. The regular practice of religion also encourages such beneficial effects on mental health as less depression (a modern epidemic), and more self-esteem.

Religion appears to reduce the incidence of depression among those with medical problems. For instance, University of Michigan Professor of Sociology David Williams conducted a random survey of 720 adults suffering form leg and hip injuries in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1990. Those who attended religious services regularly were less depressed and less stressed by life’s events than those who did not. This finding held across age, race, socioeconomic status, educational attainment, and religious affiliation. Religious affiliation on its own did not have these effects but religious behavior did.

Young people also tend to experience fewer of the anxieties of growing up. A recent study shows that when high school seniors attend worship services and consider religion important, they have positive self-images and are optimistic about life. The study conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina (UNC), sends a strong message that when teens make God a priority, their outlook on life brightens, and the benefits don’t stop there – teenagers reportedly enjoy school more. Christian Smith, UNC’s head researcher, noted “the link between religion and teens should give youth ministries a shot in the arm” .

VI. In repairing damage caused by alcoholism, drug addiction, and marital breakdown, religious belief and practice are a major source of strength and recovery.

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), the major organization combating alcoholism in America, has known for over half a century that the most effective element in its program is its religious or spiritual component. (AA) uses religion, invoking a Higher Power to help alcoholics recover from addiction. In reviewing religious treatment of those with substance abuse addictions, research psychiatrists at the Duke University Department of Psychiatry concluded in 1992: “The role of religious commitment and religiously orientated treatment programs can be significant factors which ought to be included when planning a mix of appropriate treatments alternatives… Perhaps the greatest advantage of religious programs is their recourse to churches as a support system…

With regard to repairing broken marriages, a national program organized by the non-profit Marriage Savers, called Community Marriage Policy Programs (CMP), has been very successful in lowering the divorce rate in a number of states. These programs seek to share information and help members of the clergy develop voluntary unified marriage policies that will help marriages be successful at every stage in communities that want them. Activities range from pre-marital counseling, encouraging abstinence and discouraging living together, to strengthening existing marriages and saving 80-90% of the worst ones. For example in Modesto Calif., the first city to adopt a CMP in 1986, the divorce rate has plunged 47.6%, the marriage rates have increased by 13.6% school dropouts fell 20% and teen births decreased by 30%. Some 158 cities have adopted these programs and divorces have plunged in 33 of 35 cities where CMP data is available .

VII. Regular practice of religion is good for personal physical health: It increases longevity, improves one’s chances of recovery from illness, and lessens the incidence of many killer diseases.

Since as far back as 1891 up through the present, most scientific studies have shown that churchgoers live longer lives and enjoy better health, even after taking into consideration other social factors . A number of studies document that those who attend church regularly versus those who do not, have lower mortality rates for cardiovascular disease, lower blood pressure, and a decreased risk of early stroke . In what may be one of the most unusual experiments in medical history, Dr. Robert B. Byrd, a cardiologist then at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School, conducted a random sample, double-blind study of the effects of prayer – not by the patients but for the patients – on the outcome of cardiac surgery. Outcomes of the two sets of patients differed significantly: Those who were prayed for had noticeably fewer post-operative congestive heart failures, fewer cardiopulmonary arrests, less pneumonia, and less need for antibiotics .

The health benefits of religion are not confined to the cardiovascular system. In 1987, a major review of research studies that examined the relationship between health and religion, and measured additional outcomes such as colitis, cancers of many different types, and longevity measures –concluded that, in general, religious commitment improves health.

Church of the Hills Christian Outreach Programs
Most churches either support or are involved in implementing programs (such as those discussed above or similar ones) that provide numerous benefits to both their congregation and their communities. The Church of the Hills of Bedminster is a strong Christian ministry with a number of practical services aimed at strengthening families and helping the community . Here is a list of their ministries along with a brief explanation:

Benevolence Ministry: To single parents and families in need. – Commissary supplies diapers, food, clothes, etc., in extreme cases Shoprite gift certificates are provided.

Christian School: ACSI accredited Academic/Arts School K-8th grade.(Would like to expand to grade 12).

Cradle Care: Provide meals for new mothers 1st week after delivery.

Homeless Ministry: Work done in conjunction with NYC Relief.

Hospital Ministry: Visit and Pray for the sick.

Missions: Building churches – overseas.

Community Outreach:

Drama Group and Choir: Performs programs in the community and special programs in the church where the community is invited.

Elderly and Nursing home Ministry – Visit the elderly and provide spiritualencouragement at Mary Heart, Rt.10, Ledgewood area.

Free Indeed: Substance abuse – Addiction recovery program.

Fresh Start: Divorce recovery – healing, encouragement, get back on your feet,
depend on God.

Home Bible Studies – neighbors & friends are invited to study and apply Christian principles in their lives.

Literature Handouts – Outreach at statewide and community events: free kids videos, Bibles, literature (ex. Bedminster Falls Festival).

Prayer Campaign: Members call all the people of the community and ask for prayer requests, pray for them all for one month, then follow-up.

Road Crew – Helps the disadvantaged move, etc.

Spanish Ministry, Discipleship Classes, Welcome Class for new believers.

Prison Ministry & angel tree – Church members visit those in prison and encourage them to look to God through Bible Study. Angel Tree is part of the ministry of Prison Fellowship and the Angel Tree program provides gifts for prisoners to give to their children at Christmastime.

Vacation Bible school – One week in the summer. Classes for all ages are provided.

Pre-marital & Marital counseling. – “One Flesh”, which is all marriage teachings on all aspects of marriage and family. Previously broadcast via Skyangel on Dishnetwork, but now in the process of changing broadcast to cable channel 8.

Youth Outreach: Youth groups for boys and girls, Jr. and Sr. High., Friday youth group outreach: band performs, Bible message given, games, snacks etc.

School of the Arts: Wrestling, basketball, band instruments – Saturdays in the summer.

Conclusion:
For generations, churches have held a respected place in the community and were welcomed into the community – but not as much today. Too many court cases are more concerned with not appearing to endorse religion rather than being careful to not prevent the free practice of religion. Tragically today, pornographic businesses have more Supreme Court precedent zoning protection than churches . Congress passed the Religious Land Use and Protection Act in 2000, to protect churches’ religious freedom, but still churches and other religious groups are getting entangled in lawsuits with local governments over zoning laws. Pat Korten of the Beckett Fund, a law group that has been active in supporting churches, states “this has become a serious burden on the free exercise of religion” , which is unconstitutional.

What is going on in our country? Nationally syndicated columnist William Raspberry offers some insight: “Almost every commentator on the current scene bemoans the increase in violence, lowered ethical standards and loss of civility that marked American society. Is the decline of religious influence part of what is happening to us? Is it not just possible that anti-religious bias masquerading as religious neutrality is costing us more than we have been willing to acknowledge? Our communities today need all the help churches are willing to give.

As both history and current social science documents, there is little doubt that churches have a wide-ranging positive affect on communities. It is only logical that when they are allowed to grow, more people can attend and support their positive ministries, allowing greater good to flow into the surrounding cities, and state in which the churches reside. Therefore, town-planning boards, citizens and neighbors alike, should support the expansion of churches and welcome their larger influence in the community.

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