This research illustrates what we already knew because the Bible tells us so, so it’s a good reminder:

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Harvard public policy professor Robert D. Putnam has a tongue-in-cheek suggestion for pastors: “Spend less time on the sermons, and more time arranging the church suppers.”

That’s because research by Putnam and Chaeyoon Lim, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, shows that the more church friends a person has, the happier he or she is.

“Church friends are super-charged friends, but we have no idea why,” Putnam told a Feb. 16 summit on religion, well-being and health at Gallup world headquarters in Washington. “We have some hypotheses, but we don’t know for sure.” … (read entire report)

I wrote “illustrates” rather than “confirms” above, because the Bible is its own confirmation. But it serves as a good reminder that the demonstration of love accompanies the message and imprints in people’s minds the fellowship and community that God creates in the church.

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