The Parish Paper - February 2017: How Do Congregations Respond to Interfaith Couples?

As the world becomes more interconnected and more people’s religious identities are in flux, couples who hold different beliefs are becoming common in the pews of almost every religious institution. And pastors and members need to adjust to those realities. “The issue now is for churches to acknowledge that there are interfaith couples in their midst,” said Susan Katz Miller, author of Being Both. “You want to be as welcoming as possible if you want families to stay.” Miller has seen an institutional shift toward understanding that interfaith marriage is happening, with or without the participation of churches, and she asserts “it’s not a problem to be overcome.”