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.
If you are contemplating engagement, or are ready to plan a wedding, please go to the Walk Worthy Bookstore on the Scottsdale Bible Church South campus 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.
2010 Marriage Preparation class schedule
Marriage Prep Class
Maximize Your Marriage
Saturday, February 6, E105, 8:15 a.m.—1 pm, PLUS eight Sundays from Feb. 7—March 28, E210, 11 a.m.—12:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 10, E105, 8:15 a.m.—1 p.m., PLUS eight Sundays from April 11—June 6, E210, 11 a.m.—12:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 11, E105, 8:15 a.m.—1 p.m., PLUS eight Sundays from Sep. 12—November 7, E210, 11 a.m.—12:30 p.m. (no class on September 26)
2011 Marriage Preparation class schedule
Marriage Prep Class
Maximize Your Marriage
Saturday, February 5, E105, 8:15 a.m.—1 pm, PLUS eight Sundays from Feb. 6—March 27, E210, 11 a.m.—12:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 2, E105, 8:15 a.m.—1 p.m., PLUS eight Sundays from April 3—May 29, E210, 11 a.m.—12:30 p.m. (No class on Easter Sunday, April 24)
Saturday, September 10, E105, 8:15 a.m.—1 p.m., PLUS eight Sundays from Sep. 11—Oct. 30, E210, 11 a.m.—12:30 p.m.
Marriage Prep is an eight-week couples experience on Sunday mornings that will equip you to live together in dynamic connection for life, with topics like Sexual and Spiritual Intimacy, His Needs and Her Needs, How to Talk to Each Other, What Are Roles, etc.
The class is also designed to provide specific tools for those entering second marriages. We recognize that re-marriage is inherently more difficult in those early months than first marriages—even more so when there are children involved, making family blending a significant challenge. With a 65 to 70 percent failure in second marriages, our goal is to see those couples take greater deliberation before marriage, such that the failure rate falls precipitously.
The registration fee is $110, with a $10 discount for regular SBC attenders and an additional $10 discount for early registration by the 15th of the month before the start of the next class. If your wedding will be at Scottsdale Bible Church, the Marriage Prep Class fee is included in the wedding package.
Your registration includes the on-line Life Innovations Prepare 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 one Saturday morning from 8:15 a.m.–1 p.m., then meets as a class for the following eight Sundays at 11 a.m. Click here to download the Marriage Preparation application form for the Marriage Prep Class.
Hear from professionals in the community on topics like:
- Communication and Conflict Resolution
- Personal Holiness and Spiritual Intimacy
- What About our Emotional Cup
- Sexual Purity
- Sexual Intimacy the Issue of Pornography
- Guarding Your Heart
- His Needs, Her Needs
- Dealing with Money
- Addictions and Forgiveness
- Family Dynamics
Learn how to keep the chemistry alive after the wedding!
