Chapter 3
The nuclear family, once prized as
the foundation of society, suffered
heavy blows in the decades following
World War II. Since the 1960s, families
have grown smaller. More people than
ever live alone—single young adults,
divorced singles, or people who have
lost a spouse. In 1960, 70% of
American families were married
couples with two or more children—
the father was the breadwinner and the
mother was the homemaker (Mintz,
2001). Currently, the married male
breadwinner-female homemaker family
makes up only about 22% of American
households (Aronwald, 2005). More
common are two-earner families (in
which husbands and wives both work),
single-parent female heads of
households, stepfamilies, and empty-
nest families. This domestic revolution
has been caused by a declining birth
rate, rapid entry of married women
into the workforce, rising divorce rates,
and an aging population.
While these indicators may appear
to be bad news for American society as
a whole, it may well be good news for
the Church. Some feel American society
has turned its back on the gospel, in
part because life has been too easy—
people haven’t needed anyone or
anything.As the last century drew to a
close, this sense of self-reliance seemedto buckle. Membership in religious
organizations rose from 41% in 1900 to
70% in 2000 (Caplow, Hicks, &
Wattenberg, 2000).As encouraging as
this may seem, the percentage of
individuals attending church on a
weekly basis has remained steady for
this period.
This opens an avenue for churches
and individual Christians to use
societal trends to maximize their
influence for Jesus Christ. How can
churches reach those who don’t fit the
mold of the“traditional”family? Today,
political parties pledge support for the
American family, but controversy lies
just beneath the surface. It periodically
bubbles up (sometimes becoming aA Christian Perspective
“If there is one lesson to be drawn from the last
millennium of family history, it’s that families are always
having to play catch-up with a changing world.”
Coontz, 1999, p. 90©JupiterImages