“There’s a yearning in them, and that all wants to be expressed in terms of the sacred and the holy and within the context of God’s presence,” says Rev. Ann Abernethy, a United Church of Christ pastor.

Watch more of our interview about religious services of commitment with UCC minister and retirement community chaplain Ann Abernethy, who says, “One of the great gifts of being a clergy person is that we are really invited into people’s lives at a time of blessing.”

Young Mormons are pursuing their educations and careers “not with the purpose of delaying marriage, but with the idea that we want to have a full life that includes all of those things,” says Beverli Jo DeWalt, a single Mormon woman.

Watch more of our interview about same-sex marriage and mainline Protestant denominations with Rev. Jennifer Wegter-McNelly, interim minister of the Church of the Covenant.

"For me personally, it's so encouraging to be surrounded by people who believe in marriage, who are working at it, who love each other," says Kathy Berkemeyer, who together with her husband Jack celebrated Valentine's Day by renewing their vows at the annual Mass for Lovers ceremony held in Old St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Chicago.

Part four of a four-part series on faith and family: a growing number of families are not the traditional married mother and father with children — single mothers, cohabiting men and women, gay couples, and the divorced have become more common. How are churches and other religious groups responding to these families?

Read more of Lucky Severson’s interview with the Reverend Darrell Armstrong of Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton, New Jersey.

Read more of Lucky Severson’s interview with the Reverend Wallace Charles Smith on historical and current issues facing African-American families.

Read more of Lucky Severson’s interview with the Reverend Eugene Rivers in Boston, Massachusetts.

Part three of a four-part series on faith and family: poor black families endure huge problems — high rates of divorce, single parents, and out-of-wedlock births. Why are so many poor African-American families in trouble, and what are their churches doing to help?