Christiantown, USA

Are Christian families more--or less--strong than other families? How important is sexual satisfaction to marital happiness? What impact does the arrival of children have on a marriage? How does income affect marital satisfaction? What pressures confront employed wives and their families and how content are these women with their marriages?

You will find the answers to these and many other questions in Christiantown, USA, the most comprehensive volume to date on the impact of religion on marriage and family relationships. This enlightening book examines the real life experiences of 50 couples to understand their worries and concerns, triumphs and regrets and to profit from the lessons these couples have learned from their years as marriage partners and parents.

To accurately assess the influence of religion on the marriages of churchgoers, the author considers the significance of other important forces as well--level of education, job satisfaction, income, sex life, patterns of decision making, coping strategies, and the demands of parenting. While most studies have been content to assess religion's impact by looking at church membership or church attendance, this book looks at several facets of religiosity in an effort to understand more clearly just how and when religion affects marriage quality and whether its impact is positive or negative.

A final concern of the book is to assess how the current generation of couples is adapting to intergenerational changes such as increased occupational status, more egalitarian patterns of decision-making, and smaller families. It examines the role modifications and coping strategies that couples are employing to deal with these changes and with the demands that accompany them.

Of special interest to pastors, counselors, social workers, program planners, students, and other professionals seeking to respond to the needs of today's couples and their families, Christiantown, USA offers an enormously helpful perspective of the contemporary family and seeks to expose inappropriate, misleading, and sometimes debilitating stereotypes about Christian families. It provides an honest assessment of the concerns of married couples and their families and clarifies the nature and extent of common problems in need of attention by professionals and researchers seeking to understand and help the modern American family.