Overview of the Ohio Marriage Resource Center

Mission

The mission of the Ohio Marriage Resource Center is to strengthen marriages and
significantly reduce the divorce rate within the state of Ohio.

The Ohio Marriage Resource Center is organized based upon the following philosophies
and principles:

A) Belief in the value of education in the context of the Marriage Life Cycle theory - and
in the importance of providing marriage-related programs and education to couples at
each step in the Marriage Life Cycle. For first marriages, this includes programs at each
of the following relationship stages:

1) Seriously Dating (pre-engagement)
2) Engagement (marriage preparation courses)
3) Newly Married Couples
4) New Parents (parenting classes)
5) Marriage Enrichment (a combination of ongoing weekly programs and "special events")
6) Empty Nesters
7) Troubled Marriage Interventions
8) Post-Separation Reconciliations

Supplementing the above first-marriage programs are those for second marriages including:
9) Divorce Recovery Programs
10) Re-marriage preparation programs
11) Stepfamily support groups.

Vision and Goals

The initial emphasis of the Ohio Marriage Resource Center in 2008 will be on encouraging
churches and community organizations within Ohio to develop, deliver, and encourage
participation in programs for Marriage Preparation, Marriage Enrichment, Communication
Skills, Troubled Marriages and Parenting Issues.

B) Networking within the churches and community organizations so that not every
church or organization has to provide all of the above courses/programs to its members.
Rather, the idea is that all of the above programs will be available somewhere around
the state, and the information about all of the courses/programs will be available on a
website managed by the Ohio Marriage Resource Center. This way pastors, therapists,
and community leaders will be able to refer their couples to the program(s) which best
meets the couples' needs which is located in reasonably close proximity to the couples
who are being referred.

C) The Ohio Marriage Resource Center will assist churches and community organizations
within the state of Ohio who want to add any of the above-listed programs to their repertoire
to select and implement the relevant program(s) of their choice. The key assistance areas
include finding and evaluating the relevant programs.

D) The goal of the Ohio Marriage Resource Center is to strengthen marriages and
reduce the number of divorces within the state of Ohio. Objectives for 2007 include:

1) Increase the number of, and participation in, Sexual Abstinence and Seriously Dating
courses within Ohio.
2) Increase the number of, and participation in, Marriage Preparation programs offered
to engaged couples within Ohio;
3) Increase the number of Ohio couples who participate in some sort of structured
Marriage Enrichment program during the year;
4) Increase the number of, and participation in, Communication Skills courses in Ohio;
5) Increase the number of, and participation in, Troubled-Marriage and Divorce-Intervention
programs offered within Ohio;
6) Increase the number of, and participation in, Parenting courses in Ohio.