INSIDE SADDLEBACK: 4 Areas Where Change Must Happen

<p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong><a href= "https://www.smallgroupnetwork.com/onlinesmallgroups/" target= "_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl= "https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.smallgroupnetwork.com/onlinesmallgroups/&source=gmail&ust=1602109689968000&usg=AFQjCNEES4j7xztH9b6l27DUKbGLKkRUGQ"> New Online Small Group Course</a></strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong><a href= "https://www.smallgroupnetwork.com/conferences/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl= "https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.smallgroupnetwork.com/conferences/&source=gmail&ust=1602109689968000&usg=AFQjCNFA5nte_eB7Sv9m7n7IcaRIQMAl1Q"> 2021 Training Events</a></strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"><strong><a href= "https://saddleback.com/connect/smallgroups/openenrollment" target= "_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl= "https://www.google.com/url?q=https://saddleback.com/connect/smallgroups/openenrollment&source=gmail&ust=1602109689968000&usg=AFQjCNGd9k_4-_v4QIqmS96gCKkUXxkTbg"> Saddleback Small Groups</a></strong></p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">SOCIOLOGIST STUDY:</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Following the turn of the century, sociologist Chaeyoon Lim, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin at Madison, and his associate, political scientist Robert Putnam, Ph.D., Harvard University, demonstrated that religious people are more satisfied with their lives than nonreligious people. Surprisingly however they found that it’s not the relationship with God or spiritual factors, like Bible reading, that makes the devout happier. Instead, the satisfaction boost comes from closer ties to others who are sharing the experience. The social aspect of religion, rather than the theological or spiritual aspects of religion, is what made people more satisfied with their lives, because of their social networks within their faith community.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;"> </p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">As congregational affiliation [“attendance”] plummeted in the U.S., Lim and Putnam followed up their ini