Decline causes alarm among Christian educators 
The importance of children in a marriage for making that relationship work is plummeting, and a children's organization says churches apparently are reflecting that change in priorities, with tens of thousands fewer congregations now offering vacation Bible school.
The concerns are being expressed by officials at National Children's Day, who promote the second Sunday in June as Children's Day each year.
Since its beginnings in the 1920s, when Standard Publishing of Cincinnati became the first publisher to create a full-scale vacation Bible school program, the institution has been part of many communities' summertime outreaches.
However, new studies show that the number of churches and ministries offering VBS has been dropping.
A report from The Barna Group of Ventura, Calif., noted that between 1997 and 2005, there was a 15 percent decline in the percentage of churches offering vacation Bible schools, those usually week-long summer intensives of Bible lessons – and cookies and fruit drink – for children.
The drop was from 81 percent of churches surveyed, to 69 percent.
"That represents about 38,000 fewer churches offering VBS than eight years [earlier]," the report said.
The assessment noted the most common reason for not offering VBS was a lack of teachers.
"Those most likely to offer VBS were Southern Baptist and mainline churches, congregations with 250 or more adult attenders, and black congregations," the evaluation continued.
John Ross, advocate for "Children's Day" and part of a growing movement spear-headed by the National Childrens Day outreach, lamented the loss.
"The church played a vital role in the beginning of 'Children's Day' and now again needs to reaffirm its commitment to children by initiating, continuing, and expanding VBS," he said. "Now more than ever, children need the church to step to the plate.
"Children are in direr need of spiritual and moral guidance. VBS reaches beyond denominational boundaries. It's a great tool for spiritual formation and community outreach. I hope all of America's churches can make that commitment," he said. "That's what 'Children's Day' is about... commitment."
Publishing industry officials estimate vacation Bible schools enroll about three million students annually.
Christianity Today lists a total of 15 publishers who have VBS programs available this year.
The Children's Day group notes that such observations originated in the 1880s and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1883 designated the "second Sabbath in June as Children's Day."
This year, Illinois became the first state to proclaim that day as "Children's Day," officials said, via a proclamation from Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The organization noted that a Pew Research assessment this year saw that the children had dropped to eighth place – on a list of nine factors – that people say determines the success of their marriage.
In first was faithfulness, followed by a happy sexual relationship and sharing household chores. Fourth and fifth were adequate income and good housing, and in sixth was shared religious beliefs. Seventh was shared tastes and interests. Children were in eighth, followed only by agreement on politics.
In 1990, when the American public was given the same list, children ranked third.
"In the United States today, marriage exerts less influence over how adults organize their lives and how children are born and raised than at any time in the nation's history," the study said. "Only about half of all adults (ages 18 and older) in the U.S. are married; only about seven-in-10 children live with two parents; and nearly four-in-ten births are to unwed mothers," the study said.
As recently as one generation back, 60 percent of the adults were married, 85 percent of children lived with two parents and just 10 percent of the births were to unwed mothers.
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