Dear Church Family,
In October 2024, Harvard released the results of a study suggesting, “21% of adults in the U.S. feel lonely, with many respondents feeling disconnected from friends, family, and/or the world.” While writing about this study, Harvard scholars gave three key recommendations:
- Promote a culture of caring and service.
“75% of our adult respondents, and slightly more lonely adults, reported that ‘finding ways to help others, such as doing community service or caring for others, would reduce their loneliness.’”
- Build a social infrastructure that enables people to find and sustain meaningful connections.
“Seventy-five percent of adults in our survey reported wanting ‘more activities or fun community events.’”
- Underscore the importance of simply reaching out to others.
“Encouragingly, the solution people endorsed most, including lonely adults, is available to almost all of us: ‘taking time each day to reach out to a friend or family member.’”
As I read through this, I was struck by the truth that God designed the church to come together, not only to worship Him, but to meet these three social recommendations. We are here to care for and serve each other. The church itself is an infrastructure inside which we can find meaningful connections. The message of the church, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, inspires us to reach out to others. The truth is, the local church does impact loneliness. “Among churchgoers, only 12 percent of those who attend church weekly report high levels of loneliness, compared to 25 percent of those who never attend.”
What does this mean for you? Let’s start simply with this thought: Connection is serving. Invite someone into your home for a meal. Ask someone to join you for lunch after church at a restaurant. Go Dutch if you need to! Share a cup of coffee. Make a phone call. Send an email. Remember that your connection is more than just reaching out. It is serving God and being what He created us to be. This March, try to make at least one intentional connection outside of church and see if it doesn’t raise your own sense of community.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25
Pastor Daniel