ohiomarriageresources

issues to consider when starting a marriage ministry

numerous people have emailed us and asked for information about how to get started in forming a marriage ministry.  Here is a checklist to consider when starting a marriage ministry

• look at the demographics of your congregation.  do you have a young congregation with many couples getting married each year?  do you have an older congregation with couples who may just need marriage enrichment type help?  do you have a congregation with many couples in marital strife?

• talk with your pastor about his counseling workload.  if he is overloaded in an area, maybe that is where you should start.  ask his preference.  remember that pastors became pastors because they have a heart to help people.  your pastor may want to continue a certain amount of counseling in a particular area.

• decide will you limit mentoring to couples within the church or open it to couples in the community

• determine your policy for referring couples to professional counseling because their issues are beyond the capability of mentor couples to help them (e.g. an active affair, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, or physical abuse).

• define the criteria for couples to marry at your church

• identify potential mentor couples in your church.  these could be couples who demonstrated by their previous actions that they have a heart for marriages (e.g. attendance at engaged encounter, marriage encounter, marriage seminars).

• write all this down in the form of a mission statement and submit it to your pastor and church board for approval.

• contact us to train your mentor couples and help you set up a marriage ministry.  for additional information about our mentor training, click here.