Mike McManus offers astute comments on the recent Southern Baptist expression of concern over the many
divorces seen in its midst. At the end of his article McManus says:
Every church has couples who have survived marital crises such as adultery or bankruptcy, who could be trained to tell their story of recovery to a couple in crisis, and can save four of five such marriages.
However, how can they be identified and trained to be of assistance?
An Episcopal priest, asked this question any pastor could ask: "Are there any couples whose marriages were once on the rocks, but are now in a state of healing? If so, I'd like to meet with you after the service." Of 180 people in church that day, 10 couples showed up. They developed a 17-step recovery strategy, like the 12 steps of AA, and helped save 38 of 40 crisis marriages.
In my reporting for this column, I have come across similar proven interventions at other stages of marriage: preparation with 93 percent success rate over two decades, and a "Stepfamily Support Group" that saves 80 percent of marriages, which typically divorce at a 70 percent rate.
My wife and I lead Marriage Savers, a ministry which helped the clergy of 229 cities to create a Community Marriage Policy to implement these reforms. We train the mentors. Result: the divorce rate for cities falls 17.5 percent on average and has plunged in half in Austin, Kansas City, KS and its suburbs, El Paso, Modesto, CA and Salem, OR. Cohabitation rates drop by a third compared to similar cities in each state. Marriage rates rise about 16 percent.
To learn more, go to www.marriagesavers.org/ You can reach Mike personally at: mike@marriagesavers.org