Church attendance linked to lower substance abuse rates
VANCOUVER, BC—The more committed that street people are in practicing their religious beliefs, the less likely they are to drink and use drugs, a new University of British Columbia study suggests.
“For many homeless individuals, their faith appears to be a source of comfort and support, create hope, and provide strength in their current apparently hopeless situation,” Michael Krausz and Iris Torchalla of the UBC School of Population and Public Health write in a report of their findings in the Community Mental Health Journal.
Researchers spoke to 380 homeless people who claimed to hold to some form of religious beliefs. Of the 60 who attended services at least once a week, the report says a third to a half of them “had significantly lower rates of alcohol, cocaine, and opioid use” than those who went less frequently.
When asked why their faith was important to them, the responses included that it “helps me make it through the day and keeps me clean,” “It is something to get up for in the morning and keeps me going,” and “Because I want to go to heaven—I am in hell now.”
Krausz and Torchalla say “regular attendance of religious services may be an indicator of self-discipline which is also protective against substance use.”
“The Higher Power is definitely named often as a way to ‘get out’ of the addiction,” Sally McShane, the minister at First United Church in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside says in an email. “God is grasped with both hands as a struggle begins.”
But Steve Paulson, the director of Teen Challenge of Central Canada, says this faith expression needs to go a lot deeper before the “large majority” of homeless people even begin to want to get off the street.
“A lot of the people that live in drug use and poverty know God’s plan of salvation through Christ. They understand it. But very, very, very few of them are actually interested in leaving that lifestyle,” he says.
“The challenge is, how do we disciple them? And if they do get discipled, should we expect them to come out of their poverty lifestyle?”
For those who do take that next step, the transformation can be profound.
Abbotsford-born Robby Ahuja came to Christ while he was a student in Teen Challenge’s year-long, biblically-based drug and alcohol recovery program. Leaving behind a life of gangs, hard drugs, and organized crime, he found an acceptance that even his own family was too afraid to give him.
“When I started going to church, people knew my history—and they would let me in their homes and let me sit next to their daughters, and would treat me like I was part of the family,” says Ahuja.
“That’s what really drew me to wanting to live for Christ—that people accepted me and loved me.”
Today, Ahuja is Teen Challenge’s northwest Ontario director in Thunder Bay. He is married with three children.
“I don’t know of very many people that were real addicts that have broken free from an addictive lifestyle and have found purpose in their life without a relationship with Christ,” says Paulson. “I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, but I haven’t seen it.”
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