Father&#039;s Reflection 6.4.23

by Father Jaime Zarse

Chapter 2, Part 3

Friends, the most urgent ministry gap facing the Church today resides in marriage and family. And the reason - the family decline is driving the faith decline. Consider the following statistics from a 2019 Barna-Communio survey. 72% of all churches in America lack a substantive marriage ministry in the parish, 74% of all churches have no ministry for newlyweds helping them through their first critical years of marriage, 92% of all churches do not offer ministries that encourage healthy habits around dating or discerning the right spouse for marriage, and 85% of churches spend zero percent of their budget on marriage and relationship ministries. And friends, that is simply unacceptable because there is a direct relationship between the strength of married life and active church participation. Further findings reveal that millennials coming from married homes are 78% more likely to attend church than their peers who come from unmarried homes. In 1970, 40% of all households were married households with children. Today, just 17.8% of all households are married households with children. Before such staggering statistics it is easy to feel discouraged. But what we need are solutions. And this is where Archbishop Naumann's communio initiative comes in. More on this next week.