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Good Morning A few years ago I stopped going to church on Sunday mornings, partly because I wanted to play football with a group of local Dad’s. The team were collectively known as Sheen Sunday and they displayed an inclusiveness - a social, ethnic and religious mix - you’d struggle to find in some congregations. It included an electrician, a musician, a builder, a neuro-surgeon, a shop-keeper, a comedian; Iranians, a Pole, Albanians, a Canadian; a Muslim, a Jew, a Bahai, resolute atheists, a lot of don’t knows and a few don’t cares. And because some are now old enough for their sons to play, the ages run from 15 to 63. But with news that researchers at the London School of Economics have discovered that practising a religion is better for mental health than sport, I wonder if I’ve made the wrong choice; that I might be jeopardising my long-term happiness if not my mortal soul. Their research showed that religious activity (defined here as going to church, mosque or synagogue regularly) played an important role in keeping depression at bay and providing a coping mechanism during periods of illness. The study couldn’t prove how much this was down to faith in a God or the sense of belonging that comes from being part of a group; but concluded that it furnished people with a sense of purpose, identity and security. Of course, playing football can give people a sense of belonging, purpose and even joy that for some counts as religious activity. Indeed, one of the Dad’s recently said to me that the football was his church. The team may not be gathering to play and celebrate the reconciliation of the world which has taken place in Jesus Christ; but he had a point: both football and church require organisation, money for the meeting, a regular time and place to meet, and a few agreed rules. And both are communities dependent on meaningful relationships to support the activity. There was a time when a faithful follower of Christ might be expected do ‘an Eric Liddle’ and refuse to play sport on the Sabbath. But I wonder if today ‘religious activity’ can be limited to a particular day or even place. Jesus himself said, ‘Men and women weren’t made for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for men and women.’ Implying that our worship – if we want to give it – is more important than the where and the when. Playing football instead of going to church isn’t a clash of faith and unbelief, it’s just a clash of timetables. But nor is it - for all its unexpected similarities - a substitute. The church carries a great hope beyond itself, and that hope continues to draw me to pursue God with others, even if not always at the usual time. Perhaps when researchers are trying to analyse religious activity or quantify how many people are worshipping God, they’d do well to look outside as well as in the regular places of worship, even to the playing fields beyond. First broadcast 08 September 2015