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Ron Deal, an authority on step-families, makes the following points:

1. Half of all children in the United States will have a step-parent during their lifetime.

2. Among women, 40 percent will either be a step-parent or be married to one at some time during their life.

3. Among children, 25 percent will see at least one parent divorce twice.

4. Of all remarriages, 60 percent end in divorce

Deal goes on to point out that since church attendance highly correlates with intact married families, a decline in functional families indicates a potential decline in church attendance as well.

The national pool of potential church attendees is currently made up of:

· First-marriage nuclear families 23%

· Functional step families 30%

· Single parents or single adults 47%

Reflectons, Interim Ministry Network, November, 2007, Volume 2, Issue 11