Family

Abstract

In the last four decades, the United States has witnessed revolutionary changes in the organization of family life and gender relations. A large number of sociological observers of American religion in recent years have argued that religious institutions in the United States must accommodate themselves to the “changing family” by reaching out to and symbolically affirming persons in a range of nontraditional families: unmarried singles, stepfamilies, single mothers, dual-career families, and gays and lesbians (D’Antonio & Aldous, 1983; Edgell, 2005; Marler, 1995; Roof & Gesch, 1995). Pointing to marked changes in the organization of family and work, from rising rates of female labor force participation to the increasingly pluralistic character of American family life, these scholars argue that religious institutions must change their family-related discourse and practice to accommodate the family and gender revolutions of the last four decades if they seek to flourish in the 21st century.