The Crossway Podcast The Surprising Health Benefits of Going to Church (Rebecca McLaughlin)
Oct 27, 2025
Rebecca McLaughlin, a prominent author and host of the Confronting Christianity podcast, explores the surprising health benefits of church attendance. She highlights Harvard research linking regular participation to decreased depression and suicide risk. McLaughlin addresses the decline in church attendance and rising interest, emphasizing that while community matters, the significant benefits arise from religious involvement. She shares a personal testimony of transformation through faith and urges embracing honest community support, even amid past church failures.
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Church Attendance Protects Mental Health
- Regular weekly church attendance strongly correlates with better mental health and dramatically lower suicide risk.
- Tyler Vandevile's research shows religiosity explains ~75% of the protective effect beyond social support.
Religion Adds More Than Social Support
- The benefit of religious participation isn’t only social; a large portion comes from the religious dimension itself.
- Humans thrive when connected to something transcendent and not merely centered on themselves.
Evidence Addresses Correlation Objections
- Researchers use controls and longitudinal comparisons to address 'correlation vs causation' concerns.
- Comparing similar people who join or leave worshiping communities reveals recovery and protection effects.
