Collection › LCMS Convention Proceedings (St. Louis, Missouri) › 1959 · 44th Convention, San Francisco › Page 214
LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1959, Page 214

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

RESOLUTIONS — COMMITTEE 4

Addenda
There is a high incidence of broken homes or disunity in
Roman Catholic-Protestant marriages and in Lutheran mixed mar-
riages. The chief point of conflict involves religious differences and
the education of children. Statistical studies from both Protestant
and Roman Catholic sources substantiate this fact.

Study 1: James H. S. Bossard and Harold C. Letts, “Mixed
Marriages Involving Lutherans—A Research Report” (a study
made at the direction of the ULCA), in Marriage and Family Liv-
ing (Minneapolis: The National Council on Family Relations, Vol.
XVIII, Nov. 1956), pp. 308—310.

1) Mixed marriages increased from 46 per cent for the years
1936—40 to 58 per cent in 1946—50. This trend and proportion
coincides with studies reported by Roman Catholic scholars (cf.
John L. Thomas, “The Factor of Religion in the Selection of Mar-
riage Mates,” American Sociological Review, 16: 489, August 1951).

2) Almost twice as many Lutheran women as men contracted
such marriages. Of a total of 11,574 mixed marriages involving
Lutherans, 64.1 per cent were women, and 35.9 per cent were men.

3) Of each 100 marriages in 9,963 cases, 20 were with Roman
Catholics; 57 were with other Protestants; 19 were with non-
church members; three were with other non-Protestants; one was
with a Jewish mate.

4) The adjustment which Lutherans made in church mem-
bership after consummating a mixed marriage. In 9,170 cases,
35 per cent remained active in their own church; 40 per cent
brought their mate to the Lutheran Church; ten per cent of Lu-
therans left their church and joined that of the non-Lutheran mate;
seven per cent of both parties dropped out of church. In remaining
cases the membership adjustment was not known.

5) How mixed marriages affected the religious rearing of chil-
dren. Of 5,796 children involved, 65 per cent were reared in the
Lutheran Church; 18 per cent were reared in the church of the
non-Lutheran; seven per cent were reared in a church other than
that of either parent; ten per cent were not reared in any church.

Study 2: “It is estimated that more than half of the men in
mixed marriages and more than a third of the women drop their
church contacts altogether.” John Charles Wynn, Pastoral Ministry
to Families (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1957), p. 118.

Study 3: David R. Mace, “The Truth About Mixed Marriages,”
Woman’s Home Companion, July 1951, lists five propositions:

1) Differences in religious attitudes are fundamental differ-
ences.