TGC Podcast Harvard Recommends Surprising Health Hack: Go to Church
8 snips
Oct 28, 2025 
Rebecca McLaughlin, an author and apologist, dives into groundbreaking research linking regular church attendance to enhanced mental and physical well-being. She shares insights from Harvard studies that suggest weekly services can boost happiness and longevity. McLaughlin also discusses societal issues stemming from declining church participation, such as loneliness and addiction. She emphasizes the paradox of why some people reject church, inviting skeptics to reconsider the data and explore the benefits of faith and community.
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Church Attendance Improves Longevity
- Harvard research links weekly religious service attendance to longer, happier lives with less depression.
- Tyler VanderWeele calls regular churchgoing a public-health-level intervention based on large studies.
The Cost Of The Great De-Churching
- Declining church attendance correlates with worse mental health, loneliness, and higher substance abuse.
- The 'Great De-Churching' links to measurable societal harms including reduced life expectancy and more suicides.
Worship Adds Benefits Beyond Socializing
- Social support explains only about a quarter of the health benefits of religious attendance.
- The religious element itself appears to confer additional, measurable advantages beyond mere community.
