According to a study conducted by Ellison Research released in the November/December edition of “Facts & Trends” magazine, the most prominent threats to families in Protestant communities are divorce, negative influences from the media, and materialism.

The research team selected a sample of 695 Protestant church ministers who answered a list of questions focusing on traditional families. The results of the survey indicated 43% over all of pastors agreed that divorce is the greatest threat. The rest of the list (as listed on LifeWay website) included:

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Ed Ward
STAN...@yahoogroups.com
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November 14, 2004

* Negative influences from the media (38 percent)
* Materialism (36 percent)
* Absentee fathers (24 percent)
* Families that lack a stay-at-home parent (22 percent)
* Co-habitation before marriage (18 percent)
* Pornography (17 percent)
* Morality not being taught in schools (14 percent)
* Poverty, unemployment, and/or a poor economy (13 percent)
* Parental alcohol use/abuse (12 percent)
* Parental drug use/abuse (11 percent)
* Drug use/abuse among teens or children (8 percent)
* Teen sexual involvement/activity (8 percent)
* Alcohol use/abuse among teens or children (6 percent)
* Adultery (5 percent)
* Poor schools or quality of education (4 percent)
* Teen pregnancy (2 percent)
* Sexual predators or sexual abuse (1 percent)
* The expense of child care (1 percent)
* Other issues (12 percent)

However, the perceived threats to family provided by Pastors differed somewhat by region. For example, co-habitation was seen as a great threat in the Midwest compared to other regions. Meanwhile, parental alcohol abuse was considered as a major problem by Western ministers.

Differences of opinion and perspective were also found among different denominational groups. For instance, Methodist Pastors focused on parental alcohol and drug use along with other economic issues. Meanwhile, Pentecostal ministers showed concern for morality and tended to be less concerned about materialism. However, clergy from different perspectives were united in evaluating potential threats to traditional families.

When asked whether or not the raditional view of family (husband, wife, and children) no longer really exists in American society, about half of the ministers agreed with the statement, while the other half disagreed. However, most of pastors agreed that No matter how society defines family, churches need to promote a traditional view of family (husband, wife and children).

"Facts & Trends," where this study is being published, is published by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. For information about "Facts & Trends," contact Chris Turner at 615-251-2307.

My Best to You and Yours,

Ed

Ed Ward, MD,
Founder, LA-CRC
edward19(at)cox.net (at) = @ (for the @ crawlers) my email.

http://thepriceofliberty.org/ward.htm

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