Articles on Religion and the Family

Bartkowski, John

What ever happened to the Promise Keepers?  An excerpt from the forthcoming book The Promise Keepers:  Servants, Soldiers, and Godly Men

Are there more hugs or spankings in Evangelical families?
A research summary from the Parenting and Evangelical Families project.

Becker, Penny Edgell

Congregations Adapting to Changes in Work and Family a paper prepared for the New England Religious Discussion Society, September, 1999

Work, Family, and Religious Involvement for Men and Women: "Family Values" or the Modern Family? a paper contrasting the participation levels between men and women in religious environments, March 2000

It's a Matter of Time a summary of findings generated from the Religion and the Family project.

Religion and Gender a summary of findings relating to male and female participation within congregations.

Does the Modern American Family have enough time for Church?  A brief research summary

Browning, Don

Practical Theology and the American Family Debate:  An Overview, Intntl. Journal of Practical Theology, Vol. 1,1997,pp.136-60
This article offers a synopsis of the family debate taking a broad range of political, social scientific, and religious standpoints into consideration. Topics covered include: marital relationships and the religious significance of marriage, the emergence of new and obscure family arrangements dissimilar from the norm, the kin altruism and Thomistic evolutionary theories, and the effects of and reasons for increasingly problematic family disruption and contemporary family crises. Browning proposes a religio-cultural solution to the modern individualism, that has been a central cause for the fragmentation of the nuclear family unit. His solution is grounded in the values of Christianity which embrace the ethics required to renew and reinstate marriage and family into our culture.

The Task of Religious Institutions in Strengthening Families

Gallagher, Sally

Are Evangelical Gender Roles Changing?
A research summary from the Contemporary Evangelicals, Families & Gender project.

Heischman, Daniel R. 

Adolescents' Moral Compass, Adults' Moral Presence
This paper presents revealing results of a nationwide survey depicting the moral and spiritual perspectives of 5000 American children and adolescents. The author raises the notion of “moral compass” (“assumptions that prompt people to choose and behave in certain ways”) as it exists in America’s youth and reveals their moral perspective to be “based more on personal experience than on the influence of role models or civic expectations.” He suggests adults’ budding apprehension concerning young people’s stereotypical fascination with sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll influences adults’ direct contact with youth to be shied away from, resulting in a lack of moral reflection in young people.

Fishburn, Janet 

Confronting the Idolatry of Family: A New Vision for the Household of God

Lummis, Adair

Men's Commitment to Religion: Perceptions of its Nature, Nurture, and Consequences  A paper delivered at the Annual Meetings of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, October 2003.

Schofield, Lynn

Exploring the Role of Media in Religious Identity-construction Among Teens
This article is an investigation of modern-day teenage spirituality and how it is sculpted by the incessant bombardment of visual media that surround our lives. Clark’s research demonstrates the differences between adolescents and parents in their approaches to issues of religion.  This distinctive approach by teens will ultimately determine the future of religious identity and the influential role of media in its construction process.

Roozen, Dave

Empty Nest, Empty Pew:  The Boomers
Continue Through the Family Cycle