Vital Congregations: Comparing what it means to be vital across 10 faith traditions

What does a congregation mean when they describe themselves as spiritually vital? How does a congregation become vital? What is the relationship between vitality and sustainability? Does the answer depend on the faith tradition?

This study asked leaders from 10 different faith traditions to answer these questions. We found remarkable similarities across all traditions while also discovering the unique perspectives of each. Their answers illustrate distinct understandings about the way people interact with God and different perspectives of God’s promise of hope for the world.

Spirituality & Health

Considerable research has demonstrated a strong positive relationship between spirituality/religion and physical and mental health. Here are a few resources that summarize findings.

• Handbook of Religion and Health. 2nd edition by Koenig HG, King DE, Carson VB. (2012)

• The Relationship Between Spirituality, Health-Related Behavior, and Psychological Well-Being by Agnieszka Bożek, Paweł F. Nowak, and Mateusz Blukacz (2020)

• Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications by Harold G. Koenig (2012)

Faith Formation, Spiritual Growth and Faith in Action: Findings from the Congregational Vitality Survey

Vital congregations help create people who live out their faith in the world, right?

This study analyzes data from 30,000 individuals from over 490 congregations nation-wide to discover the surprisingly weak relationship between a congregation’s vitality and people’s spiritual growth. Yet even though strong congregations don’t necessarily create spiritual growth, the study shows that spiritual growth matters in how people live out their faith in daily life.