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Marriage

PREPARATION

If you are engaged or recently married, then you are in a season when you have the opportunity to lay a solid foundation for the marriage you will build together over the coming years. Many couples will tell you that their styles of relating and their patterns of communication were established during that all-so-important first year of marriage. In many ways, "marriage preparation" is simply the first chapter of the marriage enrichment that a couple will want to continue throughout the rest of their lives together.

Calvary's Nearly/Newlywed ministry has two objectives: First, to help you grow in your understanding of God's design for your marriage. And second, to equip you as a couple with the insights and skills you need to pursue the kind of marriage you hope to achieve. Below are opportunies for you. To find out more on each one, contact us.

  • When You Plan to Say...I Do (marriage preparation workshop)
  • Premarital Inventories (an inventory to better understand your relationship)
  • E-to-1 Bible Fellowship (a class to connect with engaged and newlywed couples)
  • Couple to Couple (connect with another couple who has walked the road of marriage)
  • Premarital Counseling (provided by the pastor officiating your wedding, or through our counseling ministry)

ENRICHMENT

Marriage Enrichment is the process of creating a "value-added" relationship, ...more a way of life than a single event, ...for every couple, not just those who are "struggling." Marriage enrichment includes any sermons, classes, small groups, retreats, books or life experiences that give couples new insights and skills to enjoy each other and challenge them to focus on their relationships with God and each other. To find out more about a class, group, or to plan a retreat, contact us.

  • Classes: Throughout the year Calvary offers a number of classes on a variety of marriage topics. From Dr. Gary Chapman's The Five Love Languages and Eggerich's Love and Respect to classes on communication, conflict resolution, sexual intimacy and more. These classes are typically offered as part of our CEI ministry when programs for your children and youth are also available.
  • Groups: A small group where couples are invited to share openly with each other, all of them contributing to the learning process, and each of them helping to hold the others accountable for the work they are doing in their marriage. Often these groups are formed by couples in a Bible Fellowship class, but sometimes they have been organized through our Discipleship Ministry office.
  • Retreats: Options include: Festivals of Marriage (at Ridgecrest Conference Center), Family Life's Weekend to Remember, Forever Families Marriage Tune Up Conference, and Toward a Growing Marriage Conference. In addition, Bible Fellowship classes or small groups can plan their own retreat with the assistance of the Marriage Ministries office in the promotion and administration details.

RENEWAL

Most everyone has read the statistics...nearly 50% of the marriages in America end in divorce. And even more discouraging is the realization that many of the couples who do "make it" have settled for something much less than what God intended for their relationship. These are "only numbers" unless they painfully describe your marriage or the marriage of someone you love. Our hope is that couples whose marriage could be diagnosed as "failure to thrive" will reach out and ask for help. Whether you are at the point of divorce, or you simply don't want to continue your marriage as it is for another 5 or 10 years or longer, today is the day to turn your marriage in a new direction.

  • Invest In Your Marriage offers Bible Fellowship classes the opportunity to dedicate one Sunday each month for a year to help couples "invest in their marriage." Using Dr. Gary Chapman's, A Couple's Guide Toward a Growing Marriage, the classes take one Sunday each month to work through the 12 sessions on intimacy, communication, service, finances, anger, forgiveness, and love.
  • Marriage Counseling provides the time when a couple needs to sit down with a professional and prayerfully talk through the issues they are facing. For Calvary members, the Counseling Ministry offers an opportunity to meet with a Licensed Professional Counselor (or one of our Counseling Associates in the process of completing their licensure).