American Families of Faith

"Interest in exploring reasons for religious hope has become increasingly prevalent. Some readers might be seeking answers or guidance for loved ones who are undergoing religious questioning, doubting, or even experiencing a faith crisis. Others may be hoping for some spiritual inoculation against such serious religious doubts for themselves and those they love." Kyra Nielson reads the article, "T...

"“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,”1 ranks as one of the most repeated verbatim command phrases in the Bible. We frequently forget, however, that this wisdom has two parts: loving our neighbors and loving ourselves. A central part of life’s journey includes finding a healthy balance or harmony between caring for ourselves (self-care) and engaging in acts of sacrifice to help others. For th...

"In a landmark article on the power of negative experiences, Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Finkenauer, and Vohs (2001) demonstrated that across the clear majority of domains studied by psychologists (including relationship research), “bad is stronger than good.” Baumeister and colleagues found that “bad events will have longer lasting and more intense consequences than good events” (p. 325); that “sing...

"For many immersed in 21st-century culture, the idea of repentance may be jarringly akin to “shaming,” guilt-tripping, or fear-based condemnation. These connotations suggest links to depression, anxiety, and relational struggles and strife.   "In sharp contrast, however, many of the roughly 200 wives and husbands we interviewed in our American Families of Faith project—people with religious and re...

"Sociologist Roger Friedman recently wrote that we live in a world that is “an arena of warring gods.” From a social science perspective, those gods include the economic and political gods of money, fame, and power. "Other “gods” include consumerism, pop icons, and football. Super Bowl Sunday features this trifecta in living color via a billion-dollar arena filled with worshippers of the church of...

"Today’s society is experiencing epidemics of loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Even so, positive psychology and the Abrahamic religions both exhort that the virtue of hope has the potential to help people dealing with a wide range of challenges." Loren Marks reads the article, "The Growing Famine of Hope" which was originally published in Public Square Magazine on April 29, 2024.

"Charlotte Brontë is renowned for her beloved classic  Jane Eyre , but in her lesser-known novel  Shirley , she offered valuable insight into the noble quality of gratitude when she wrote: I am almost contented just now, and very thankful. Gratitude is a divine emotion: it fills the heart, but not to bursting; it warms it, but not to fever. Our recent research as social scientists indicates that f...

"A close friend (a younger male professor at another university) has permitted us to share this opening story anonymously:  The strikingly attractive female student entered my office, closed the door behind her, and then moved far too close to me, almost pinning me against my desk. She put her lips inches from my face and gave me a “kiss me” look. Several seconds passed. The young beauty stepped b...

"For many individuals and families, the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically altered family life. In some ways, these changes have been unsettling or even tragic. "One jarring effect COVID has had on family relationships is the disruption of previous family routines and rituals. In the words of COVID researcher Heather Prime, families have been impacted by these changes in routines and rituals 'on a mag...

"Imagine yourself, several years from now, having a conversation with your five-year-old child or grandchild. They look up at you with shining eyes and ask,  '[Mom/Dad/Grandma/Grandpa], what was it like in 2020?' Wow, what a loaded question. What would your reaction be? How would you respond? Would you tell them about the natural disasters and the political tension? Would you joke about the toilet...

"When people throughout the world experienced the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated shutdowns, the well-known expression “a family that eats together, stays together” was flipped for many families. The family that stayed together, ate together was a common occurrence as people experienced various levels of stay-in-place mandates. Most individuals and families were no longer rushing from one act...

"Few single events in human history have affected a significant majority of people on earth—the COVID-19 pandemic is one of those widely shared experiences. Nearly all individuals and families experienced various levels of stay-in-place mandates, significant trials, and/or heartbreaking losses. As families hunkered down in their homes during the early days of the pandemic, family communication was...

"For more than two decades, we have studied the stories, challenges, and triumphs of racially and religiously diverse marriage-based families who have been identified by their clergy as “exemplary.” Since 2001, our American Families of Faith Research Project  has explored and shared various secrets of success revealed by these families in numerous articles and three books. Our latest book,  Home-C...

"A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, contains a wealth of wisdom in human character and transformation. Newfound generosity, empathy, and compassion emerge as delightful Christmas gifts following Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation—along with one easily overlooked virtue: humility. Before his eventful night begins, Scrooge is full of pride and self-interest. By the time morning light breaks, he i...

"In a memorable address entitled Beware of Pride, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and religious leader President Ezra Taft Benson stated, “Pride adversely affects all our relationships—our relationship with God and His servants, between husband and wife, parent and child.” In what follows, we explore more closely the evidence in family narratives that demonstrates the healing force of humilit...

"Despite what many adults and social scientists think, youth and young adults are very interested in talking with their parents about spiritual and religious matters. As part of our American Families of Faith project, we interviewed parents and youth from various denominations across the United States to discover what’s happening in our conversations with youth and how we can improve those convers...

In this episode, we share some of our expereinces when attending religious services of various faiths. We discuss what we appreciated, enjoyed, and learned from those experiences. We have come to expect that when we go and participate in another faith's worship, the experience is well worth it and are always glad to have gone. This podcast features conversations about faith and family life between...

"I grew up as an actively involved member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oregon, land of the religious “Nones.” In my circle of high school friends, almost none were church people of any stripe, with the exception of a cute girl I dated until her pastor delivered a scathing and apparently convincing sermon on the “evils of Mormonism” that irreparably divided us. As I learned...

Dr. David Dollahite, co-director of the American Families of Faith project, reflects on his deep respect and "holy envy" for Mainline Protestant families in the United States. Many of these families repeatedly discussed their belief that "God is love." Loving God and neighbor are two core religious beliefs and values for them, which they often live out in inspiring and pragmatic ways. This podcast...

"In this essay, I share a few experiences my family and I have enjoyed with our Jewish friends in their worship services and holy days in California and in New England. Although these stories are spread across my life, several experiences occurred during visits to synagogues as part of  research I conducted on families of various faiths ( including 30 Jewish families ) for the  American Families o...

"In my 50 years as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have known and loved persons from a variety of faiths who have influenced my life for good. I have even confessed that during my youth in Oregon, thanks to a wealth of diverse friends, I may have learned more about being a “good Latter-day Saint boy” from those outside of my faith than from those inside my faith. "Ea...

"In this essay, I will share some experiences from attending religious services of various faiths and what we learned from those experiences. I focus on worship services and celebrations and what I enjoyed and appreciated most about sharing sacred moments of community with others across a range of world faiths and denominations. I express my appreciation and admiration for the wonderful people of...

"In 1985, Krister Stendahl, then Lutheran Bishop of Stockholm, stepped to the microphone at a potentially volatile press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, and “offered support for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building a temple there, against which there was growing opposition.” In that watershed moment, when many of his own countrymen and parishioners were angry at the prospect o...

"We are professors of family life at BYU  and co-directors of the  American Families of Faith project . In this article, consistent with articles on the other seven religious-ethnic communities, we share a few quotes drawn from those whom we interviewed. In this essay the quotes center on the eternal nature of life, marriage, and families from persons from our own faith,  The Church of Jesus Chris...

"A few years before 9-11, a leading religion researcher, the late David Larson referred to religion as “the anti-tenure topic”—the fast track out of a respectable academic job. Despite that danger,  we began our work in this area .  Overnight, however, fire began to rage and hate  crimes against Muslims subsequently increased 1600% from pre-9/11 levels . Rarely, had modern America been further fro...