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A Letter to Governor Newsom for the Opening of Places of Worship

Below is an appeal letter to Governor Newsom that I sent just now that urges him to allow places of worship to remain open.


Governor Newsom:

I write to you today to urge you to allow places of worship to remain open under safety guidelines. As you may know, mental health has been a great concern during this pandemic. Talk to any mental health professional, social worker, pastor, or school teacher, and you will learn the impact this has had on our emotional well-being. In our church alone, we have seen the tragic emotional consequences of the pandemic. This impact is not, however, limited to anecdotes. Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in mid-August that anxiety- and depression-related symptoms “increased considerably” in the United States between April and June of this year, with “40.9 percent of respondents [having] reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition,” including a ten-percent increase in thoughts of suicide compared to the same period last year. (1)

Lest you think this is a national and not a state phenomenon, California has also witnessed a general increase in reports of anxiety and depression, from 30.8 percent of respondents reporting these symptoms in April and May to 38.2 percent in October and November. During the week of October 28th to November 9th, in fact, our state was ranked eleventh in anxiety- and depression-related symptoms. (2)

Statistics like these highlight the need to restore a stronger sense of community. The CDC itself, in the above study, recommended among other solutions, “promoting social connectedness, and supporting persons at risk for suicide.” (1) There are few, if any, public gatherings that meet this need better than places of worship. Here, too, the science bears this out. Authors of a May 2016 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that women who attended religious services more than once per week over a sixteen-year period experienced a 33-percent lower mortality rate compared with those who never attended. (3) In a separate 2016 study in PLOS ONE that focused on stress, death rates, and church attendance, researchers found an even stronger relationship between church attendance and mortality, concluding, “More frequent churchgoers (more than once per week) had a 55% reduction in all-cause mortality compared with non-churchgoers” and that “increased religiosity (as determined by church attendance) is associated with less stress and enhanced longevity.” (4) Since it is clear that our state is experiencing increased mental health problems, and equally clear that church attendance helps address those problems, I ask you to give places of worship the same status as businesses by allowing us to remain open under safety guidelines.

The state, and you, have done your best to balance the need to protect our health with the need for economic security. You already recognize the importance of the commercial economy by allowing places of business to remain open. I ask you to consider the parallel spiritual economy that our places of worship help to sustain. You have said time and again that you would let the science drive your decisions. Please let the above science drive your decision regarding places of worship and allow us to remain open.

1. Mark É. Czeisler, Rashon I. Lane, et al. “Mental Health, Substance Use, and Suicide Ideation During the COVID-19 Pandemic—United States, June 14-30, 2020,” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Weekly / August 14, 2020 / 69(32); 1049–1057. Web. 25 November 2020.

2. “Anxiety and Depression: Household Pulse Survey.”. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics. Table: “Indicators of Anxiety or Depression Based on Reported Frequency of Symptoms During Last 7 Days.” U.S. Census Bureau, 2020. Web. 25 November 2020.

3. Shahashan, Li, Meir J. Stampfer, David R. Williams, et al. “Association of Religious Service Attendance With Mortality Among Women.” AMA Intern Med. 2016; 176(6): 777-785. American Medical Association, 2020. Web. 25 November 2020.

4. Bruce, Marino A., David Martins, et. al. “Church attendance, allostatic load and mortality in middle aged adults.” PLOS ONE, 16 May 2017. Web. 25 November 2020.

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