CV NEWS FEED // J.P. De Gance, president of the marriage ministry Communio, will keynote Benedictine College’s 14th Annual Symposium, proposing that the Church’s “most urgent ministry gap” is its neglect of marriage.
The symposium, scheduled for March 21-22 in Atchison, Kansas, will focus on the theme “Marriage at the Peripheries,” addressing the growing challenges facing marriage and family life.
The event aims to “speak to the gift of the Catholic Church’s teachings on marriage and propose solutions to the challenges facing married couples and families in the contemporary environment,” CatholicVote reported.
According to a press release from Communio, De Gance’s keynote will expand on his assertion that the decline in faith practice is “intrinsically linked to the collapse of family structures, particularly marriage.”
“Marriage is the most urgent ministry gap in the church today,” De Gance said, according to the press release.
Pointing to research showing that most adults under 35 today were not raised in households with married parents, he argued that this cultural shift has contributed to widespread social struggles, including higher rates of poverty, mental illness, and loneliness.
Additionally, a survey by Barna Research, commissioned by Communio, found that 72% of American churches lack a substantive marriage ministry, 74% offer no support for newlyweds, and 93% have no ministries for singles.
De Gance is calling for a “metanoia” — a transformative change of heart and mind — within church ministries regarding marriage. He urges a shift from “ineffective evangelization efforts” toward a model that prioritizes strengthening marriage and relationship ministries.
“[B]y nurturing strong marriages, churches can strengthen families and create a ripple effect of faith that impacts future generations,” De Gance said.
The event will also include a keynote by Timothy Carney of the American Enterprise Institute, who will examine the societal and cultural challenges that have made it harder to form families and raise children.
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