Marriage classes

One of my favorite parts of ministry is working with couples as they prepare for marriage and then officiating their wedding ceremony on their special day. Not only do I greatly enjoy this process, but I take it very seriously. Why? Because having a good marriage isn’t easy and it doesn’t happen naturally. That’s why divorce rates among church-going people are just as high as divorce rates among those who do not attend church. I like to say that marriage is the art of two incompatible people living together compatibly. For that reason, preparing for your wedding is much more than picking out photographers and invitations. It also involves becoming very familiar with the foundational principles from God’s Word that will make a marriage work.

Due to the increased number of weddings that I am being asked to officiate, we are starting a new program that will become effective in 2007. For any couple looking to get married after April 30, 2007, I will be offering marriage classes two times a year to help you prepare for your lives together. In the past, I have met with each couple that I marry six times. Now, I will be teaching 4 of these 6 sessions in a classroom setting and still meeting with each individual couple twice. If you are interested in my officiating your wedding and your wedding date is after April 30, 2007, please call Sheri Sell at the church office for more information and to reserve a spot in these classes (for weddings planned prior to April 30, 2007, I will continue to meet with each couple 6 times). The following is a sample schedule of pre-marital steps for those planning on getting married after April 30, 2007:

Step 1 – Couples desiring me to officiate their wedding should call Sheri Sell at the church office to schedule a preliminary meeting with me. Sheri will at this time send out all of the needed information. This will include an information sheet that each individual will need to fill out and return to Sheri prior to the preliminary session.

Step 2- Couples will then meet with me for a preliminary session to determine my involvement. This does not count as one of the 6 pre-marital sessions,

Step 3- The 1st session will be a private meeting between myself and the couple and deal with the topics, Predictors of Marital Success and Reasons for Marriage.

Step 4- Sessions 2-5 will be in a class setting with other couples who have signed up for the class. The class will run on Wednesday evenings 7:00-8:15 PM. These classes will focus on: Love and the Stages of Marriage; Roles in Marriage; Communication and Conflict; and Temperaments and Intimacy.

The spring class sessions will be 3/21, 3/28, 4/4, and 4/11.
The fall class sessions will be 9/5, 9/12, 9/19, 9/26

Step 5- The 6th session will be a private meeting involving myself, the wedding coordinator, and the couple and will focus on The Marriage Ceremony. This will be scheduled about 2-3 weeks before the actual wedding date.