170 Penny EdgellTable 13.1.Family Rhetoric^1
Liberal Moderate Conservative
Protestant^2 Protestant Protestant CatholicN22215918
Progressive Items – % Agreeing^3
Reject “family ministry” as 46% 53% 13% 0
exclusive term
Wrong to think only one kind of 73% 81% 65% 83%
family is a good family
There have been all kinds of families 86% 90% 0 85%
throughout history, and God
approves of many different kinds
of families
Affirm congregation has gay/lesbian 55% 29% 10% 33%
members^4
Teach kids to think for themselves 68% 44% 0 57%
Mean on Progressivism Index 3.00 2.76 .91 2.33
Traditional Items^5 – % Agreeing
It’s better for all if man earns $, 0 14% 78% 38%
woman takes care of
home/children
It’s God’s will that the man is 14% 0 91% 14%
the spiritual head of the family
We teach kids to trust, obey parents, 32% 56% 93% 43%
teachers, the pastor
Mean on Traditionalism Index .50 .67 2.50 .78
Other Items
Changed Family Rhetoric/Symbols 55% 57% 24% 40%
in Last five years
Families Today are In Crisis – 57% (38%) 67% (24%) 31% (67%) 61% (39%)
Agree (Strongly Agree)
(^1) The items “It’s God’s will that the man is the spiritual head of the family” and “There have been many
different kinds of families throughout history, and God approves of many different kinds of families”
refer to the larger faith tradition; pastors were asked to choose which one best characterizes their faith
tradition’s “official” stance. The items about children (obey versus think for themselves) refer to what
the congregation tries to teach children through its religious education activities. All other items refer
to the pastor’s own views. Taken together, the items provide a broad picture of the official sources of
congregational rhetoric about the family.
(^2) Denominations classified following Smith 1990; resulting classification is virtually identical to Steensland
et al. 2000.
(^3) When summed, the progressive items form an index with an alpha=.7, a mean of 1.86 and a standard
deviation of 1.39.
(^4) Pastors were asked whether or not the congregation has lesbian or gay members. This is treated as
a rhetorical item because it is unlikely that this constitutes an accurate report of which congregations
actually contain gay and lesbian members. Rather, this item is an indicator of the willingness of lesbian
and gay persons to be “out” within the congregational context and of the pastor’s willingness to affirm
the presence of lesbian and gay members.
(^5) When summed, the traditionalism items form an index with an alpha=.8, a mean of 1.54 and a standard
deviation of 1.24.