Marriage Preparation
Perhaps one of the most overlooked areas in marriage today is the preparation for the marriage. Most efforts go into the preparation for the wedding that lasts but a few hours at best, and preparing for the marriage that God designed to last a lifetime, is too often ignored.
If you are thinking of marriage, are engaged or have been married less than two years-we hope you will consider prayerfully attending the next Marriage Preparation class.
We believe that every couple should have at least a year of dating that precedes engagement and that the engagement period and preparation should be well organized and unrushed. Four to six months is the recommendation by marriage experts, and many churches today mandate that, in order to use church facilities and pastors. During that time, wise couples seek pre-marital books, mentoring and coursework to help prepare them for their early years of marriage.
Once you’re registered for the Marriage Prep class, come to the Marriage Ministry office and pick up a copy of Bobb Biehl’s book-”Getting to Really Know Your Life-Mate-to Be.” You will find it invaluable in helping you see your own marriage expectations and those of your soon to be spouse. It’s required reading for our Marriage Preparation classes.
The Marriage Preparation teams work with the Marriage Ministry to provide the most powerful education and awareness classes for those entering marriage. The class provides thought-stimulating classroom experience with marriage professionals and in class mentoring, giving new couples’s greater understanding of the early months of marriage. Material is geared to help stabilize and give spiritual and emotional growth in those early years of marriage, where personalities often clash, adjustment gets rough and society encourages divorce.
Our vision is that couples will be resistant to society’s traps, and turn instead to Christ and the church to learn how to make a godly marriage; one that becomes a model for their peers.
2012 Marriage Preparation class schedule
Maximize your marriage by enrolling in one of the following upcoming classes!
Two Saturdays, February 4 and March 3, in E105, 8:15 a.m.-1 pm, PLUS four Sundays from Feb. 5-March 4 (No class on Sunday, Feb. 19, President’s Day weekend) and an additional Sunday, March 11, for those blending families with children. Sunday classes are held in E214, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Two Saturdays, April 14 and May 5, in E105, 8:15 a.m.-1 p.m., PLUS four Sundays from April 15-May 6, and an additional Sunday, May 13, for those blending families with children. Sunday classes are held in E214, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Two Saturdays, September 8 and 29, in E105, 8:15 a.m.-1 p.m., PLUS four Sundays from September 9-Semptember 30, and an additional Sunday, October 7, for those blending families with children. Sunday classes are held in E214, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Marriage Prep is a four-week couples experience on two Saturdays and four Sunday mornings that will equip you to live together in dynamic connection for life, with topics like Spiritual and Sexual Intimacy, His Needs and Her Needs, How to Talk to Each Other, Finances, Roles and Expectations, and more.
The class is also designed to provide specific tools for those blending children from previous relationships. We recognize that it is inherently more difficult in those early months than in nuclear marriages−making family blending a significant challenge. With a 65 to 90 percent failure in multiple marriages, our goal is to see those couples take greater deliberation before marriage, such that the failure rate falls precipitously.
The registration fee is $100 for those who attend Scottsdale Bible Church and $110 for those who do not attend SBC. There is an additional $10 discount if you turn in your application and pay by the 15th of the month before the start of the next class ($90 or $100). If your wedding will be at Scottsdale Bible Church, the Marriage Prep Class fee is included in the wedding package. Please turn in your application and your fee, together.
Your registration includes the on-line Life Innovations Prepare-Enrich Relationship Inventory, to help you understand the strengths and growth areas in their relationship. It will be reviewed with you as a couple by one of our Life Innovations certified individuals or couples.
The class is for two Saturday mornings from 8:15 a.m.-1 p.m. and four Sundays from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Click here to download the Marriage Preparation application form for the Marriage Prep Class.
