We know that there are positive aspects of going to church, but who knew going to church affected your relationships? According to a study by the Barna Group, practicing Christians in the United States are twice as likely to say they’re in flourishing relationships than the general adult population. The group released the study earlier this month. Sixty-one percent of practicing Christians said they’re flourishing in romantic relationships and friendships, compared to only 28 percent of all U.S. adults who responded the same.

Some 52 percent of “churched adults,” which Barna defined as adults who have attended church in the past six months but might not identify as Christian, said they were flourishing relationally. Data for the study was based in part on an online survey conducted from Sept. 16 to Oct. 4, 2021, of 1,003 churches adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9% at a 95% confidence level. The study defined spiritual formation as the process in which a church body fulfills the “mission to nurture, send and equip disciples.”

In a statement to The Christian Post, Alyce Youngblood, vice president of editorial at Barna, said the study suggests a direct positive correlation between the number of practicing Christians flourishing in relationships and the spiritual formation that takes place in the church. Youngblood also said that the study recognized that the higher the spiritual formation rate within a church, the more likely the church would contain a higher rate of practicing Christians.

She added that the study further emphasized that the more practicing Christians there are in a church, the more flourishing relationships there will be. Youngblood said, “We see a connection here. Three-quarters of churched adults who give high scores for spiritual formation in their church are also experiencing relational flourishing — compared to only 32 percent of churched adults who do not give high scores for spiritual formation.”

The study asserted that “a church that not only welcomes and connects people but [has] an awareness [of] the realities of what it takes to be content and satisfied in relationships today, is key in supporting the whole-life flourishing of congregants.”

According to Youngblood, in the Barna study, the direct causes for why practicing Christians are flourishing relationally and experiencing higher levels of spiritual formation is unknown because the study can only show correlations. However, through the analysis, she observed several positive outcomes associated with higher levels of Bible engagement and church attendance among the respondents.

Youngblood added that the study isn’t the first evidence of “strong, consistent and deep connections among people who are engaged in faith communities.” She noted that the correlation showing an uptick in flourishing relationships and higher spiritual formation “has surfaced in secular research on the topic.” In a statement, Barna CEO David Kinnaman said that he hoped Barna’s framework for measuring “what matters” in ministry would encourage future church leaders. On top of the obvious benefits of going to church, there’s a new benefit. Churchgoers are more likely to have flourishing relationships than non-churchgoers. Hopefully, this will lead more people to the house of the Lord.