Family cohesion and religious faith: Individual perceptions of family cohesion and religious faith in nuclear, blending, and single-parent families within four different church denominations

This study examined family cohesion and religious faith across three different family types (nuclear, blending, and single-parent) in church congregations using the Church Census (Garland & Yankeelov, 1998). The study used individual perceptions of family cohesion and religious faith obtained from a national research project on family ministries funded by Lilly Endowment Incorporated and sponsored by Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Participants (N = 594) were from four denominations: National Baptist (n = 114), Presbyterian - USA (n = 143), Southern Baptist Conference (n = 190), and United Methodist (n = 147). The study measured family cohesion as mean scores adapted from Olson, Portner, and Lavee's (1985c) FACES (Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales) and religious faith from the Faith Maturity Scale (FMS) (Benson, Donahue, & Erickson, 1993).; Hypothesis I states: (a) nuclear families will have the highest levels of family cohesion as compared to the other two family types (single-parent and blending), (b) single-parent families will have relatively lower levels of family cohesion than nuclear families and higher levels than blending families and (c) blending families will have the lowest levels of family cohesion compared to the other two types of families.; Hypothesis II states: individuals from families having higher levels of family cohesion will have higher levels of religious faith. Higher levels of religious faith (summary score) are associated with greater maturity of faith (Benson, et al., 1993).; Hypothesis III states: (a) nuclear families will have the highest levels of faith, (b) single-parent families will have mid-range levels, and (c) blending families will have the lowest levels.; The results partially supported hypotheses I and II, and did not support hypothesis III. Individuals from single-parent families appeared to have higher levels of faith than individuals from nuclear families. Implications were discussed for better understanding the increasingly diverse family types within church congregations as measured through family cohesion and faith maturity. Recommendations were made for further research involving church congregations, family cohesion, and faith maturity.