Having friendship and food at church leads to greater satisfaction among Christians, according to a study by the Gallup Organization.
A survey of churchgoers showed people who report having strong friendships at church are 26 percent more likely to describe themselves as having an active faith and a close relationship to God.
Food was also a key factor, the February survey said, with 77 percent of respondents saying they were highly satisfied with their place of worship if they had broken bread with their congregation at least once in the past year.
“The more people share meals together, the stronger their friendships grow, and the stronger their faith grows,” said Thom Schultz, chief executive officer of Group Publishing, who commissioned the study.
Schultz said the findings of the study are applicable for churches of any size. Providing an environment to develop friendships is a low-budget way to increase faith and church satisfaction, he said.
Another significant finding, Schultz said, was most respondents -1,002 randomly selected Christians from a range of denominations-were satisfied with the church they were attending.
Questions written by the Gallup organization included queries about friendship, spiritual maturity, church satisfaction and intimacy with God.
Religion News Service