Healthy Marriages Grand Rapids

There is an emerging consensus among spiritual, academic, civic, and political leaders across the spectrum that increasing the proportion of children born and reared in healthy, married two-parent families would constitute one of the most positive social changes we could undertake to improve the well-being of our children.

Some hold this view because of their religious belief that marriage and family are institutions ordained by God. Others base their support on evidence that the children of such families have significantly lower rates of poverty, teenage pregnancy, school dropout, delinquency, and substance abuse. Moreover, when these children are supported by a permanent two-parent union, they have the best chance of optimal life adjustment as measured by successful completion of education, employment, and the ability to establish stable marriages and families of their own.

In addition to the substantial social benefits of having children grow up in stable, healthy two-parent families, there are significant economic savings. These savings result because a larger proportion of these children successfully complete their education and enter the work force and because of reduced cost associated with unemployment, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, and delinquency.

As clergy and other community leaders, therefore, we join together in seeking ways to encourage and enable couples to reach their potential as lifelong married partners. With seventy-five percent of marriages taking place in houses of worship, the clergy potentially play a critical role in laying the foundation for a lifelong partnership. We recognize that any effort to change cultural values and social practices to increase the number and stability of married two-parent families is a complex, long-term task. No single, quick fix is available. But the community, led by its clergy, can be particularly instrumental in providing leadership for one available preventive approach, the adoption and implementation of a community marriage policy.