51%: what does it mean for churches?
According to a recent New York Times article, for the first time, 51% of American women now live without a husband. That might not sound like a terribly interesting statistic, but as Jim Dahlman of The Culture Beat points out, it holds a great deal of significance for church congregations:
What’s clear is that congregations will be affected along with everyone else. Religious communities, after all, focus keenly on the home: premarital counseling, children’s programs, care for the elderly and more. Many even organize their schedules around the family. So what happens when the shape or even the definition of “family†changes?
How will churches evolve in response to changing American family demographics? Jim’s piece looks at how one church is responding, and offers some thoughts on the challenges that more and more churches will face as families change.
