For what it's worth, I tried that a few years ago. It worked for a while. Then I realized that my church relationships were paper thin and that I'd be forgotten the day I stopped coming and/or I started showing that I didn't really believe in what was preached.

Got better connections through improv acting and role-playing game.

YMMV

That’s possibly useful on an individual level, but not a solution. If existing institutions didn’t solve loneliness yet they aren’t going to without changing something.

Promoting church attendance might help, but so would any number of group activities the issue is why that stuff is in decline not that stuff not working.

I can only commend this, but people should be aware that not every church is equally welcoming. But usually every town has at least one that is!

Sounds good, but I would have a hard time pretending to take it seriously. I wouldn’t want to lie to them.

Would be great if you didn't need to believe in a supernatural being.

"Just join a group"

The whole point is that they're not doing that, not that they can't or that its really hard to do.

Unless you grew up surrounded by nonbelievers I'm guessing half a year ago wasn't the first time you've ever been to a church and there's a little more to this anecdote.

* Religion has been used, is currently being used, and will always be used to facilitate and encourage the murder/death/suffering/abuse/exploitation of others

* My Little Pony is a children's cartoon that attracts creepy adults with questionable fetishes who like to wear ugly costumes in public and buy anthropomorphic sex dolls

I think if I *had* to pick one of those works of fiction to pretend to be a fan of just to get other people to talk to me, I'd rather deal with the smelly weirdos in the MLP fandom than any of the dangerous zealots in the <insert religious book here> fandom. (MLP is a joke example, but obviously there are way more options out there to find a community)

> supports the idea that regular church attendance helps reduce loneliness by fostering social connections, support networks, and a sense of community.

Correlation does not establish causation. Regular church attendance dominantly occurs among people who have shared values (clustered around what the church teaches); that doesn't imply that an outsider can just choose to fit in.

The problem with this answer, as with so much about various activities is that it selects for those who can.

This is "lie to join a group" for people who don't believe, and the dishonesty has negative effects on people as well.