Church leaders are increasingly promoting adoption and foster care for their members even as fewer members are involved in the processes, according to a new LifeWay Research report that surmises the drop may be attributed to the pandemic.
The poll of churchgoers, released Thursday, found that church leaders are more likely than they were in 2017 to raise funds for and encourage their congregation to adopt.
At the same time, churchgoers are less likely than in 2017 to say they know of a member who has adopted or provided foster care.
“It is likely the pandemic limited some families in considering foster care or adoption,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “But the need is still great in the U.S. and could grow larger in states with abortion restrictions.”
The survey found that pastors were more likely in 2022 than they were in 2017 to raise funds for families who are adopting (18 percent in 2022; 8 percent in 2017), encourage families to provide foster care (17 percent to 12 percent), encourage families to consider adoption (16 percent to 14 percent) and encourage families to provide foster care (10 percent to 6 percent).
Church members, though, are less likely to adopt than they were in 2017. The poll found that churchgoers say they were less likely in 2022 than in 2017 to say a member of their church provided foster care (25 percent in 2017 to 16 percent in 2022), adopted a new child from the United States (17 percent to 13 percent) and adopted a new child from another country (15 percent to 11 percent).
“Caring for the fatherless is repeatedly prioritized throughout Scripture,” McConnell said. “But the Bible does not pretend caring for another like your own child is convenient or easy.”
A Lifeway Research analysis of the data noted that “adoptions and the prevalence of foster care have fallen among all Americans in recent years.”
“The number of U.S. children in foster care dropped from 436,556 with 124,004 waiting to be adopted in 2017 to 391,098 with 113,589 waiting to be adopted in 2021,” the analysis said.
The survey was based on interviews with 1,002 Protestant churchgoers.
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Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
