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Religion

Do Individuals and Couples Benefit from Home-Based Religious Practices?

Report: Religion in the Home

Multi-Generation Family Saying Prayer Before Eating Meal
Photo by Monkey Business Images

Religion in the Home: Download

During the COVID-19 pandemic, congregations in the United States and around the world temporarily closed their doors. Religious believers were left to practice faith largely within their own homes. Some wondered: Is home-centered religious worship worth it? Do religious individuals and couples gain any benefits from everyday religious patterns that extend beyond brick-and-mortar houses of worship?

This report seeks to provide insight into these and other questions. Examining data from before the COVID-19 pandemic, the study compares four levels of religiosity - non-religious, nominally religious, regular church attenders, and regular home-worshipers - across 11 different countries: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Columbia, France, Ireland, Mexico, Peru, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Different patterns of religious practice (family and personal prayer, religious conversations in the home, reading scriptures or holy writ, and attending church services) determined the four levels of religiosity.

Authors: Jason S. Carroll, Spencer L. James, and Hal Boyd