Such marriages are steadily increasing, said Jeff Goldenberg, director of adult Jewish learning for the Jewish Community Center. The rate of interfaith marriage among U.S. Jews is about 50 percent, he said.

“We know this is going to happen,” he said, “so now the question is, ‘How do we address this issue?’ ”

Although Chelsea and Marc may hear from family, friends and even outsiders on this topic, a few Christian-Jewish couples offered their wisdom on how to make an interfaith marriage work:

“Some people are judgmental,” said Mark Katz of Kansas City, Mo., who is Jewish and has been married 18 years to his wife, Jill. “You have to feel comfortable with your decisions.”

When Don and Leslie Nottberg of Overland Park, Kan., were married in 1976, many assumed their marriage would fail.

“We had to deal with our families as well as other people who did not know us well but felt they had a right to tell us the odds were against us and that we had made a wrong decision,” Leslie said. “But for who?”