What the effect of Church attendence on your health?

As a music minister and volunteer, the larger the congregation, the higher my stress level. I'm too often playing Martha I'm afraid. I'm sure you know what I mean, Fr. :-)

Full pews for special events also bring me a certain serenity however, and I don't know if there's a correlative physical aspect. But to know that I am lifting my voice with so many singing the litany helps connect me to the Communion of Saints in a way that feels so tangible... like you can reach out and touch apostles and saints of the ages.

I heard a story similar to this question on the radio the other day (could have been last week).

Basically it said that people who attend church on a regular basis are healthier, live longer, and generally have happier lives.

I don't know how they measured that, but that was what it said.

Personally, I know I have never been happier than I am now, and I have been attending church for just over a year.

I can't say about having better health, but since starting church I have seriously cut down on smoking, so I guess I am healthier than before. . .but not as healthy as someone who doesn't smoke.

I am still alive, and really can't attest to longer life, but I will let you know when I die and let you be the judge of that :-)

You unquestionably lose brain cells. Theologians go mad just like those mad professors (they don’t depict scientists with those strange hair styles for nothing you know). In the end they all become Atheists anyway, but the journey is long and hard. Then there’s those simple people who just go to church and believe whatever the preacher says (Christianity thrived on such and still does), and they don’t lose many cells to be sure. So, after much bible study when you say “God is in my life, I can feel him!”, no, it’s not God in your life, I’m afraid the sensation is only a mild case of brain damage.

Well, I was baptized Catholic as a baby, attended Catholic Church as a little girl, and stopped attending shortly before I graduated from elementary school. While I was in elementary school, I would get about five nosebleeds a day. I hadn't really made the connection until now...ouch.

Placebos have been proven to influence people towards recovery from illness by influencing their mental state. This is precisely what happens in Church. Religion is a social placebo - there's absolutely no substance to it, but it makes some people susceptible to delusional thought believe it works.

It would be harmless if they just kept it to themselves.

I'm not sure church attendance in of itself or religious beliefs had anything to do with it, but God has certainly had an impact on my health. I was born with a hormone imbalance which caused me to suffer depression, physical illness, and fertility problems. God has since healed my mind and my body. It wasn't because of anything I have done. It was God in His great mercy and love who has done it. I've also seen God heal many others of many different things. God definitely loves us and heals us. He is awesome!!!

My mental health was shot to crap, and my dentist said it wasn't a good thing for my teeth to be falling asleep all the time like that.

I used to feel claustrophobic in crowds. Now when I'm around fellow christians no matter how many, I feel like I'm home. A positive feeling indeed.

studies show that people who attend relgious services on a regular basis are overall in better health than those who do not.

going to church makes you feel good!.... it realy does