Relationship with God and the Word: Faith among American Evangelical Christian families

A little more than 40% of Americans self-identify with the Evangelical Christian faith. American Evangelical Christians generally report that the primary convictions of their faith are a strong belief in the Bible and deep commitment to and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We explore how these specific faith convictions and practices of Evangelical Christians influence their family life and family interactions. The article is based on in-depth qualitative interviews with 23 Evangelical Christian families (46 parents, 10 youth). Themes related to the domain of marital strengths included: (1) enhancing marital unity, (2) resolving marital conflict, and (3) giving and receiving forgiveness in marriage. The three central themes related to parenting include: (1) enhancing parent-child unity, (2) resolving parent-child conflict, and (3) giving and receiving forgiveness.