Churches that were under strict lockdown over the COVID-19 pandemic still encouraged believers to hold worship services from home through small cell groups. Courtesy photo.
A new Gallup report reveals that mental health remained stable for people who attended church frequently through various means this year, despite COVID-19 challenges.
Overall, only a third of participants in the study conducted within the United States (34%) described their mental health as “excellent”, down from 43% last year.
Among those who attended church weekly though, this figure rose to 46%, even increasing on last year’s figures, when 42% of Americans said the same.
As Uganda Christian News reported earlier, the Covid-19 pandemic forced churches across the globe to resort to online services in a bid to keep congregations engaged during government shutdown orders on places of worship and businesses to slow the spread of the virus.
“Mental health is at its optimum in a person’s life when they view the world through the lens of God’s truth. The truth about themselves, their future, their faith, their circumstances, their world, and their God,” one Christian leader in the United States spoke out on the poll findings.
Another said: “Attending church reminds a believer of the bigger picture. God is Sovereign, and God was not surprised by this pandemic. God holds the future of the believer in His hands, and that provides comfort.”
Gallup has been surveying Americans about their mental health in November every year since 2001.
