Christian post reports that according to P.M. Smith, pastoring in Baltimore, Maryland, the breakdown of the family and deteriorating education is behind the city’s declining population, increasing crime and persistent poverty. Regarding the breakdown of the family, Pastor Smith says, quote, “We always have to start there….No consequences here or there. So, the result is going to be what? Courts, courtrooms, incarceration, right? We're in trouble.” End quote. Smith is attempting to remedy both family breakdown and the education issue through his ministry.

What this pastor says about Baltimore can be said about Milwaukee. Family breakdown is very much at the center of increasing crime and persistent poverty in our largest city. Today, over eighty percent of babies born in Milwaukee are born to single moms, with natural family units never even forming. Churches championing marriage need to be part of the solution.