But there is also evidence church attendance can be good for your health — unless, that is, you are a woman at a church that bars women from preaching or other leadership roles.

A new study published in the American Sociological Review has found that women who attend churches with such restrictions report worse health than those who attend churches with women in leadership roles.

The study suggests sexism can counter some of the health benefits associated with religion, said co-author Patricia Homan, an associate professor of sociology at Florida State University.

"Women who attend sexist congregations have the same health as those who do not attend religious services at all, and have worse health than women who attend inclusive churches," said Homan.

A number of past studies have shown that taking part in religious services and belonging to a religious community can be associated with better health outcomes.

Regular worship attenders are less likely to smoke, may be less likely to use drugs and may live longer than those who don't attend services.

That health effect of religion appears to be tied to active participation in a church. Those who have religious beliefs but don't attend can report poorer health outcomes. (Atheists, by contrast, also seem to report better health.)

Gender discrimination, on the other hand, can be associated with poorer health outcomes.

In a previous study, Homan looked at the effects of what she called "structural sexism" at the state level.

She found that states that had fewer women political leaders, larger gaps in wages and workplace participation between women and men, and a larger percentage of conservative Christians had higher levels of chronic health issues.

For this new study, Homan and her co-author, Amy Burdette, a professor of sociology at Florida State, wanted to see if sexism counters the health benefits of religion.

To do this, they drew from two nationally representative sources of data: the General Social Survey and the National Congregations Study.

The GSS collects data about religion, gender, marital status and health, among other factors.

The National Congregations Study collects data about local congregations, including data on the roles women are allowed to play in those churches.

The samples collected by the two studies are linked.

In 2006, 2012 and 2018, the GSS collected data about how often respondents attended religious services, then asked attenders to identify their specific congregation.

That data was used to create a nationally representative list of congregations for the NCS.

The researchers looked at three different measures of sexism, using four questions included in the 2006 and 2012 waves of NCS: Could women teach a co-ed class, could they preach at the main worship service, could they serve on the governing board of the church, and could they be the main leader?

Those questions were used to sort into what the researchers called either "sexist" or "inclusive" congregations.

Churches that banned women as the main leader (50%) were labelled as sexist.

So were congregations that only allowed men on the governing board (14%).

Homan and Burdette also looked at all four questions — and rated congregations on how many restrictions on women were in place. Those with more than two limits on women were labelled as sexist.

They then matched churches in both the sexist and inclusive categories with health data about individuals who attended those churches from the GSS.

The GSS asked participants to rate their overall health using this question: "Would you say your own health, in general, is excellent, good, fair, or poor?"

Their answers were then rated on a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being poor and 4 being excellent.

Women in inclusive churches had an average self-reported health score of 3.03. Women in sexist congregations had an average score of 2.79.

That difference is equivalent to a person having at least three years of additional education (which has been shown to impact health) or at least 15 years' difference in age, said Homan.

"We found that only women who attended inclusive congregations got that health benefit from religious participation," Homan told Religion News Service.

And the more restrictions there were on women's participation in the life of a congregation, the worse the reported health outcomes were.

There was no conclusive data showing whether or not sexism had any effect on men's health in the study.

The role of women in churches has been the subject of a national debate over sexism in religious groups.

Southern Baptist Bible teacher Beth Moore made national headlines after telling RNS she no longer identified with that denomination after years of controversy over sexism, abuse and racial divides in the church.

Homan said she has a great deal of respect for Christians who hold so-called complementarian beliefs — the idea that men and women are equal in God's eyes but have different roles in the church and at home.

She grew up in a Southern Baptist family and attended complementarian churches for years as an adult and had a good experience.

The study also seemed to draw a line between complementarian beliefs and sexist structures in religious groups.

"Complementarianism provides a clear guide for the acceptable roles of men and women within gender-traditional religious groups, but the reality is more complicated.

"Rather than being simple-minded victims of patriarchy, numerous studies show that conservative religious women display a great deal of agency within church and home," the authors wrote.

Homan said her research of sexism and health outcomes at the state level prompted her to follow up with the study in religion and health and she can't deny what they found: Policies and practices that limit women's participation can undermine the health benefits associated with church attendance.

"The full equal participation of women in church and society is important for the health and well-being of everyone," Homan said.

• Ahead of the Trend is a collaborative effort between Religion News Service and the Association of Religion Data Archives made possible through the support of the John Templeton Foundation. See other Ahead of the Trend articles here.
• First published by RNS. Republished with permission.

Yet in his 13 years in the president's chair at Liberty, Falwell has slowly expanded his influence from Liberty University's campus to the national political scene and shown that leadership can be leveraged for good or cause great harm.

Currently on a leave of absence from Liberty University because of some controversial social media posts, Falwell has also demonstrated that as a leader's influence grows, so must his or her commitment to integrity.

Unfortunately, in many cases, the longer leaders remain in leadership, the more relaxed they become about their principles and convictions.

• They lose sight of their original purpose, living disconnected from what they preach to others.
• Words do not match actions.
• Private lives do not match their public life.
• The next scandalous headline is just waiting to be written.

Every leader gets to choose when, and if, they will face their own humanity and commit to leading with greater integrity.

The sooner that happens, the better.

Healthy leaders do the hard work to get their baggage down to carry-on size, which prepares them to handle greater influence.

Unhealthy leaders, on the other hand, choose to ignore their integrity gaps: the expanding distance between what they preach and how they live.

For those leaders, it's a matter of time before they — and those in their wake — pay the price.

Christian organizations often suffer integrity gaps harder than others, as respect for leadership can override accountability.

Many churches and Christian nonprofits leave their leaders to wrestle on their own with personal ego, addiction to power, or unresolved trauma.

Some of these organizations actively dismiss anyone who dares to question the integrity of a high-profile leader.

They put leaders on a pedestal, leaving them isolated and vulnerable.

Pastors, school presidents and other high-capacity leaders can be vulnerable, as we all are, to blind spots, temptations and minimizing their own stories, especially when their performance is impressive.

Many leaders use achievement and performance to distance themselves from their own stories and in this way, power can become a form of addiction, shrouded in deep shame.

And inevitably, a leader's unresolved brokenness will leak out.

The problem isn't the fact that leaders are human; the problem is not being honest about a leader's humanity.

Churches and Christian organizations must stop ignoring red flags that indicate leadership integrity gaps.

These red flags are often hiding in plain sight:

• A leader cannot be questioned and refuses to allow disagreement.
• A leader is excused or given a pass for bad behaviour solely because of his or her leadership position.
• A leader has a continually rotating team and few long-term relationships.
• Rumours of a leader's misconduct go unacknowledged or unaddressed.
• A leader is privately "talked to" about an integrity gap — with no plan for accountability.
• A leader who has harmed others is quickly restored to leadership — with no plan or time for repair and healing.

Leaders can shrink their integrity gaps.

Organizations can create environments of truth and grace that hold leaders accountable.

When leaders do err, a healthy system of truth and grace offers a process for repair, healing and accountability.

Christian leaders need more training around healthy relationships, abuse and trauma-informed theology, and practical steps to greater accountability.

Change is possible.

Join us in the mission to see greater leadership integrity, less harm to followers, and fewer church scandal headlines.

• Jeff Mattson and Terra Mattson are founders of Living Wholehearted, where they coach leaders and counsel individuals. Their forthcoming book is "Shrinking the Integrity Gap: Between What Leaders Preach and Live."
• First published in RNS. Reproduced with permission.
• The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of CathNews.

Along with the close support of the club's senior leadership group and coaching staff, he also looks for guidance from his church pastor and has recently taken to reading the books of self-help guru Tony Robbins. Read more

Organised by the Anglican Centre in Rome, the course is based on Biblical scholarship, case studies of exemplary leaders, past and present, and field work in Rome and Assisi.

Participants from the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Nigeria and Myanmar were among those attending the audience, while the director of the Anglican Centre, Archbishop David Moxon and Zambian Bishop William Mchombo of the Central African province were also able to exchange a few words with Pope Francis. Read more

"Rev Oka was a man of God," says the Archbishop. "He was not just a man for one denomination, he was a man for all denominations.

"He touched lives wherever he went. When he spoke, people listened. No one can replace Oka, the wisdom and knowledge he possessed was a rarity." The passing away of Rev Elder Fauolo last week has become the source of great sadness for thousands of Samoans who admired his life and work.

Archbishop Mataeliga says Rev Fauolo was "a dear friend, spiritual advisor and a true Christian leader.

"Even though he didn't speak at many occasions towards his last days, people felt blessed from him through his prayers."

Oka Fauolo was former Chairman of Samoa's Council of Churches. Within his own Congregational Christian Church of Samoa, he had been its General Secretary and Chairman. He was for many years the Principal of Malua Theological College.

Source

• Samoa Observer
• Samoa Observer
• Image: The Samoa Times