Asking the Clergy: Can worship make me a better person?

As the holiday season begins, the Pew Research Center reports that although almost a third of the U.S. population is religiously unaffiliated, about two thirds of Americans still adhere to a faith. This week’s clergy discuss the many benefits that can accrue to those who attend worship services.

The Rev. Earl Y. Thorpe Jr.

Pastor, Church-in-the-Garden, Garden City

Bettering yourself can be attempted through many positive actions. For example, some see value in going to the gym or doing yoga, taking a run or a long walk a few times a week. These actions challenge the body and ensure that, at the very least, we’re maintaining (if not improving) our health.

In similar ways, attending weekly worship at a house of faith helps challenge you. It helps you to understand holistically (in mind, body and spirit) who you are, not just in your process of personal development, but in your relationship with God and your fellow human beings.

Weekly worship recognizes that the process of betterment is not merely individual but encompasses the community. It’s an ongoing process as the challenges of daily life constantly ebb and flow.

I am currently leading the congregation through “Understanding Help,” a sermon series investigating aspects of help that we often overlook or are ashamed to ask for or receive. Meeting weekly, we get to examine and explore this vital topic as it relates to our world and lives, in a regular forum that helps us to focus deeply on becoming a better version of ourselves.

Erik Larson

Teacher, Global Harmony House (Brahma Kumaris), Great Neck

The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization offers a daily morning session during which we listen to God’s teachings read by a senior teacher. The guidance, inspiration and spiritual power received during the service is a nurturing and centering experience. It provides an understanding of what is beneficial for the self and the community that we then take with us to use in our day.

If we do not participate in these services, our mind is a bit more susceptible to the influences of the world: sorrow, disappointment, anger. Regular or daily practice, to listen to and experience the wisdom in a service, brings power — the power to be better, my best. Every time we attend a spiritual or worship service, we strengthen the knowledge of how to live well in our lives.

Attending worship services supports our community, our understanding of each other, and the bonds of friendship and community, along with our own inner well-being. We believe choosing an elevated way of being, a spiritual or soul-conscious awareness, is what leads to a happy and fulfilling life: a better life.

The Rev. Canon Winfred Vergara

Priest-in-Charge, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Hicksville

Attending weekly worship in church makes you a better person psychologically, socially and spiritually. Psychologically, setting aside a weekly Sabbath for rest and worship is directly linked to enhancing your mood. The Word of God in Scriptures and homilies helps you to develop a positive attitude. It’s like sunshine to a tree, making you feel good inside. Scientific studies have even shown that going to church might lower your blood pressure.

Socially, coming to a church involves fellowship with other believers. We need that socialization in church to keep the light of our lives burning brightly. Spiritually, church is designed by Christ to proclaim his truths and to reveal his presence.

Jesus says, “When two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst” (Matthew 18:20). Everyone can access God’s grace, but that grace is especially accessible in the midst of his people gathered together in worship. As the Bible says, let us not give up “meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another — and all the more as you see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).