God ordained marriage and emphasized the importance of the family unit throughout Scripture. Yet the concept of “marriage for life” is nearly obsolete in our society. Unfortunately, the Christian community has not been left untouched. Although physical divorce or separation may not be quite as commonplace in the Christian world, there are many emotionally divorced couples in church Sunday after Sunday.
Premarital counseling is one way to deal with this problem. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Premarital counseling is a preventative problem-solver. It’s dealing with problems before they come up; it’s examining strengths and weaknesses within the individuals as people and as a couple, and then seeking to find out how each person can best compliment the other.
Philosophy:
The premarital counseling ministry is intended to begin developing relationships that will continue into your married life. You will be introduced to several of the elders to develop your understanding in various aspects of married life. We will also seek to help you develop an ongoing relationship with an older couple. This couple will be able to walk with you through the joys and challenges of married life.
The actual approach will be determined by the needs of the couple being counseled. Much of the counseling content is meant to be an introduction to the practical day-to-day situations and problems that come up in marriage. .
- Premarital counseling needs to be viewed as preventative medicine. Although marriage was intended by God to be a positive experience for man, even the best of relationships experience times of stress. It is the desire of this ministry to give marital candidates the opportunity to work through – at least hypothetically – some of the pitfalls that could plague them in the future.
- Marriage must be entered into with the proper understanding. We believe the following are essential:
- Marriage is not a struggle for rights.
- Marriage is a composite relationship of which its components are equal.
- This equality does not demand synonymity in function, i.e. each partner has a specific role to follow.
The Plan:
An initial meeting: This interactive session will help to design the approach to the counseling sessions.
Initial evaluation: Question & Answer Time. This is designed to determine the readiness of a couple for marriage. It also helps us evaluate our commitment to be involved with the couple.
The couple will be asked to meet with a financial coach to help prepare them as they join their finances together.
The couple could also be asked to view videos, listen to CDs, and read materials related to marital readiness.
The couple will have several sessions with one of the pastors of MBC.
Note: Please download and print the Premarital Counseling Questionnaire from the link below. Each premarital candidate should complete their own questionnaire, and return them to the church office. After receiving them, one of the pastors will contact you.
Download the Premarital Counseling Questionnaire.
