The Divorce Rate In the Church Is Much Lower Than Most People Think

It’s long been believed that half of America’s marriages end in divorce and the problem is just as bad in the Church as the rest of the country.

But when Harvard-trained researcher Shaunti Feldhahn tried to find the actual research to prove those points, she couldn’t. It started her on an eight-year odyssey to find the actual facts.

A Demoralizing Belief
The Atlanta-based researcher and author realized the widespread belief that marriage failure is as bad in the Church as the rest of the world demoralizes Christians and can even cause them to question their faith.

“For a pastor it means ‘all my work doesn’t mean very much,'” Feldhahn told CBN News. “For the average person in the congregation there’s this subtle feeling like, ‘If that’s true: if on something as important as marriage, doing what the Bible says doesn’t change anything, what does that mean about the Bible?'”

Virginia Pastor Daniel Floyd, with Fredericksburg’s Lifepoint Church, has seen how this can hurt people’s faith.

“Because a 50 percent divorce rate inside the church really just said the church makes no difference in your marriage,” Floyd explained. “And that’s quite an indictment of the church.”

Christian psychotherapist Angel Davis said the belief half of marriages fail can even give people permission to give up.

“When you have something like a statistic like 50 percent, it gives you the option,” she told CBN News. “It becomes an option in your mind.”

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SOURCE: CBN News
Paul Strand