Marriage Preparation

Perhaps one of the most overlooked areas in marriage in America today is the preparation for the marriage itself. Most of the effort goes into the preparation for the wedding that lasts but a few hours at best, and the marriage that God designed to last a lifetime, is too often ignored. 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. 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 to see your own marriage expectations and those of your soon to be spouse. It’s required reading for all of our Marriage Preparation classes.

The Marriage Preparation teams work with the entire Marriage Ministry to provide the most powerful education and awareness classes for those entering marriage. We gear the material 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.

We provide thought-stimulating classes and in class mentoring, giving new couples greater understanding of the early months of marriage. We recruit and train gifted, caring couples to work with those contemplating marriage in two marriage preparation classes and ongoing mentoring through the Marriage Mentoring Ministry.

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.

We have a cadre of volunteer couples who understand the dynamics of both first and second marriages and blended families. We work with couples considering remarriage to encourage them to make wise, thoughtful choices. The materials we provide will give those couples the tools they need to make good decisions.

We recommend and offer Life Innovations Prepare Relationship Inventory, to couples who are interested in discovering the areas of strength in their relationship. It is administered in conjunction with the Re-Marriage Prep class, and to those couples who have been unable to fit their schedule into one of our preparing for marriage classes. It is also available to all married couples who want to take their relationship to a deeper level.