Churches must help ‘recapture’ worldview driving marriage, fertility crisis in US, author says
October 8, 2026
A Christian leader is arguing that churches, more than the government, can remedy America’s marriage and fertility crisis by restoring a vision of marriage and family as the richest source of human meaning.
The Christian Post reports that Communio founder J.P. De Gance believes the marriage, family and fertility crises are driven by a “complex set of factors,” but the underlying issue is fundamentally one of worldview.
De Gance told the Christian Post, “Ultimately, we have to restore a Christian anthropology, a Christian worldview of man and woman in the image of God, and understand that God has made us for purpose. He’s made us to love. He’s made us for family.”
De Gance’s organization Communio promotes its “Family and Civilization” campaign to help pastors, ministry teams and church leaders consider how their congregations can become more intentional about forming people for healthy relationships.
The Communio founder warned about the practical concerns tied to America’s declining fertility rate, explaining that it could strain the country’s social safety net and infrastructure while creating what he described as a large population of “kinless adults.”
De Gance also warned that the crisis cannot be solved by discussing its economic consequences alone.
According to the Christian Post, De Gance cited a 2023 Pew Research Center study finding that nine out of 10 parents consider financial independence important for their children.
By contrast, nearly half of the parents surveyed said it is not very important, or not important at all, that their children marry or have children of their own.
De Gance also cited research indicating that unmarried adults in their 30s are among the loneliest groups in America, warning that as marriage is delayed, the share of people who never marry increases.
“At the end of our lives, when you or I are sitting on our deathbed and we look back at our life, we’re not going to look back and think about the things that we’ve accumulated and the wealth and income that we’ve generated and our contribution to the GDP,” De Gance said. “We’re going to think about our children, our grandchildren, our closest loved ones.”
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