CHR Comment: The royal watchers give us a little history of Queen Elizabeth’s piety. Funny.
Source: Britain’s Queen Elizabeth misses church again due to heavy cold | Reuters
Tag: church attendance
Religion Leads to Longer Life
Church attendance is correlated with longer life and a sense of meaning.
CHR Comment: This may explain why religion, despite its detractors in modern life, will simply never go away—there are simply too many benefits associated with religious beliefs and practices.
Going to Church May Help You Live Longer
Going to church might be the key to living longer, according to a new Harvard study.
CHR Comment: The study is based on self-reporting from c. 74,000 women. It does not describe a direct cause/effect relationship between church attendance and longer life, just that the two factors correlate substantially. What the study likely shows is that people who have the good habit of regularly attending church likely also have good habits related to their health such as avoiding risky behaviors (e.g., excessive smoking and drinking). The author of the study excludes immeasurable factors such as God blessing those who attend church with longer life.
On a different note, biblical wisdom does teach that those who obey their parents may be blessed with longer life in the Promised Land (Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:3)
Source: Going to church helps you live longer, Harvard study says | Christian News on Christian Today
Church Attendance in Sub-Saharan Africa
The march of Christianity
CHR Comment: A helpful map illustrates percentages of Christians who regularly attend church. The article describes the correlation between lower economic income and higher church attendance, including numerous statistics.
Source: The future of the world’s most popular religion is African | The Economist
Atheist Anti-Church Billboards: Are They Effective?
Billboards placed by an atheist group in different parts of the US are drawing strong reaction from both atheists and Christians alike.
CHR Comment: American Atheists is the group that pays for the billboards. They target Christmas as the most widely celebrated holiday by the majority religious group: Christianity. Their goal is to separate belief in charity and morality from religion.
Source: Atheist anti-church billboards land: Are they effective?
Religious People Are More Likely to Be Veterans in the U.S.
Religion and military service go hand-in-hand. Here’s the data.
CHR Comment: Tobin Grant demonstrates that American veterans are significantly more likely to be church goes than those who are not religious. Evangelical Protestants and members of historically Black Protestant churches are most likely to be veterans.
How New Yorkers and Parisians Reacted Differently to Attacks on Their City
One priest who helped victims of the Paris attacks remembers his own experience helping communities in New York after 9/11.
CHR Comment: Rev. Jean-Christophe Bieselaar was a priest serving in New York City in 2001 and currently serves as a chaplain in Paris. He describes how Americans look to the Lord as a refuge in times of crisis whereas the French tend to ask why God allows terrible things to happen. New York churches were full in 2001, with people standing in line to enter. Church attendance in Paris has jumped but the response is not nearly as great as was seen in New York.
Church Attendance Plunges after Nepal Becomes a Secular State
Christians mostly welcomed new constitution. Nepal’s main trading partner did not.
CHR Comment: Due to political changes and parliament representation, India has blocked the transport of fuel into Nepal. As a result, fewer Nepalese are able to travel to church as easily as before. Attendance at some congregations has been cut in half.
Source: Church Attendance Plunges after Nepal Becomes a Secular State… | Gleanings | ChristianityToday.com
Plummeting Irish Catholic Church Attendance. Modern Church
Although 84 percent of citizens in Ireland identify themselves as Roman Catholic, attendance at mass is down significantly. Only about a third of Irish Catholics now attend on a weekly basis.
church history review 