ST. LOUIS -- Southern Baptist leaders are calling on Christians to help rebuild families through premarital counseling and quality family time.

"When people say to me that the American family is in the intensive care unit, I tell them that, in reality, the family is still out on the street and has yet to be brought into the emergency room," said Tom Elliff, chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention's (SBC) Council on Family Life.

Elliff addressed the SBC during its annual conference July 11-12 in St. Louis, according to the Baptist Press.

All Christians should focus on the family in light of the Council's research, he said. Among the Council's findings during the last several years:

• 88 percent of children raised in evangelical homes leave church when they're 18 and never return
• The divorce ratio among members of evangelical churches is about the same as among non-church members
• One million children's parents divorce each year in the United States
• Nearly two-thirds of Southern Baptist church members attend church only sporadically
• Personal bankruptcies are at an all-time high in America
• The majority of America's children have less than 10 minutes of significant and meaningful conversation with their parents each week

Elliff recommended churches require biblically based premarital counseling and encourage families to set aside one night a week to spend time together.

The Council is planning a "Kingdom Families Rally" June 19, 2003, in Phoenix, the day following SBC's annual meeting there, according to the Baptist Press. The rally will be followed by 10 to 30 smaller conferences throughout the country emphasizing the need to rebuild families, Elliff said.