Connect09’s Andrew Nixon says new research showing people living in rural areas are happiest confirms C09 is ‘on the right track’.
The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index report was compiled by Bob Cummins, professor of psychology at Deakin University, from interviews with 35,000 people undertaken over six years.
He found that people living in small rural communities, which have stronger community life, were happiest and that community life deteriorates significantly once a town passes a population of 40,000.
The Rev Andrew Nixon, who heads the Diocese's Connect09 campaign, says the research "does seem to indicate that we are on the right track… as we go public with Making Connections for Life'.
“The article was not a surprise given what we discovered in our research for Connect09. Our researcher told us from the outset that, from his years of experience in consumer research, what people yearn for is ‘belonging’ - a word echoed in this report,” Mr Nixon continues.
“As a society we have more material wealth than ever, but when it comes to community, many people are impoverished. Professor Cummins’ research links that lack of community with reduced happiness and wellbeing.”
Unhappy inner-city needs Connect09
The research has found that residents of Fairfield-Liverpool are the unhappiest in the nation, closely followed by those living in inner-city Sydney.
"It seems intuitive that the reduced sense of safety in large cities is related to lower community connection," Prof Cummins reports, adding that community life is poorest in areas with high-density living and high numbers of migrants.
This research adds to a growing realisation that there is a distinctly different "missional' strategy needed for ministry in urban areas as opposed to the "attractional' strategies that operate effectively on the suburban fringe.
Mr Nixon indicates these findings reveal that Connect09 could be meeting an emotional or physical need, as well as a spiritual one.
“Life is more than a house, a job, and a flat-screen TV, it is about relationships. Family - yes; and surely family breakdown is a huge factor in unhappiness. But also a wider network of relationships where we are know and rely upon others as we ourselves are known and relied upon " a community where we really do belong,” he says.
“We can offer that. And best of all we can offer connection with Jesus, the author of life.”
Mr Nixon said this need would enlarge as the financial crisis worsens.
“As the economy begins to really bite, and material wealth is threatened or lost, the opportunities for us to take a lead in building community and loving our neighbours will only increase.”
Jeremy Halcrow investigates this issue further at his sydneyanglicans.net news blog.
