The Christian Century

People who attend religious services regularly and build friendships within their congregation indicate higher levels of satisfaction with their lives, according to a Faith Matters survey of American adults conducted from 2006 to 2007. Strength of religious convictions and private religious practices such as prayer do not by themselves indicate higher levels of satisfaction. What matters is a strong sense of religious identity and belonging and the forging of friendships within one's faith community. "It is neither faith nor communities, per se, that are important, but communities of faith," report the authors of the study. "For life satisfaction, praying together seems to be better than either bowling together or praying alone" (Chaeyoon Lim and Robert D. Putnam in American Sociological Review, December 2010).