• Utah Governor Spencer Cox recently explained that religion provides a shortcut to building communities of connection and trust.
• This is confirmed in a recent report from Sutherland Institute which describes the protective effects of religious participation for mental health.
• Religion is not only valuable for protecting believers but has significant benefits for all members of the community.

​On May 1^st, Utah Governor Spencer Cox told an audience that Americans need “a religious revival.” According to news reports, he pointed out that religion is a “shortcut” for creating social capital, “the strength of an individual’s social network and community.” The Deseret News reported that the governor explained, “religious organizations can unite people across different backgrounds in a time of increasing loneliness and polarization.”

Sutherland Institute has been releasing a series of publications on the social benefits of religion, and the evidence supports the Governor’s observations. Previous reports in the series have described:

• How people of faith and religious organizations provide essential social services, particularly care for the most vulnerable in society;
• How efforts of believers to secure their ability to exercise their faith resulted in precedents that have increased the circumference of freedom for all Americans; and
• How religious organizations created the infrastructure of our current educational system and are still making contributions to solving significant challenges in education.

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, Sutherland has now released the fourth report, which discusses how religion and religious organizations contribute to positive outcomes in mental health.

Research indicates that for both youth and older adults, participation in religion protects against loneliness. Actively religious people report greater emotional flourishing and happiness.  Religious involvement has unique protective effects against depression. There is less information on other mental disorders, but some indication that religion can help here too. One study with a large sample found “[f]requent religious service attendance is a long-term protective factor against suicide.”

Contrary to some portrayals of religion as harsh and hurtful, research from Brigham Young University found that religious belief is “associated with lower levels of toxic perfectionism.”

As with the prior reports, this one describes how it is not only believers who experience the benefits of religion for mental health. The benefits of religion related to improved mental health do not accrue only to people of faith who directly experience them. People who experience improved mental health serve as models for others seeking help. As they share their experiences, they can help others seek needed help and provide encouragement to receive that help. For some people of faith, a sense of mission can lead them to provide help to others in their communities either as trained professionals or in more informal ways.

In recent years, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s attention has been drawn to a serious mental health epidemic. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control points out that “One in five American adults experienced symptoms of anxiety and depression in 2023” and that “5.8 million emergency department visits occurred in 2021 with mental, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental disorders as the primary diagnosis.” Religion is an important component in the response to this concern.

Governor Cox is right, religion promotes connection and community, which are powerful protective factors in emotional resilience. This is another reason governments and communities should protect religious organizations and people of faith so they can continue to provide invaluable services to those around them.

Ford Copple contributed research to this article.