With so much concern climbing over the decline of marriage or the struggle of marriage in the modern world there are some groups that are taking action to support and strengthen marriage. Among those groups offering programs and developing new programs are churches and other religious organizations. The principles behind many of these programs are strengthening the ties of community that once supported married couples once more.
The Religious Community
The religious communities are one of the few remaining aspects of small town and local communities that we have from previous decades and centuries. The insulation of the religious community inside one church’s congregation offers a source of moral support. The shared belief system emphasizes looking for solutions and helping couples through their struggles.
One program offered through a local church here interested me, because it utilized women’s support groups and men’s support groups – the couple that is struggling begins dealing with their internal problems separately in a group of their peers. They can talk about anything and their peers will listen and help them find some positive ways to cope with these internal problems.
If those support groups are not successful or only partially successful, the next stage is couples counseling. An older couple from the Church meets weekly with the younger or struggling couple. They work together through conversation and prayer to find a way to mediate disputes and reopen the channels of conversation. The older couples are usually volunteers and their only goal is to provide a sounding board and a voice of experience.
Strengthening Marriage
By strengthening the couple’s ties to their community and their congregation, these church programs are helping couples to strengthen their own marriages. We believe that a marriage is a lifetime commitment between two people who love each other and are willing to share their lives together. But a marriage is not just between one man and one woman or two men or two women – they are a compact between one family and another to build a new branch of a family. Their families, their communities and their society – support marriages and in this way, it’s the community that is returning its support to the marriages.
Do you know of Church programs that support marriage in your community?
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