Marriage Ministry Leadership Community

Many of the challenges that your church is facing would be positively impacted if the marriages and families in your church were healthy and strong. Today, perhaps more than ever, the church needs to have a comprehensive strategy for supporting the marriages in the church and community. This leadership community will expose your team to the best and most effective models of marriage ministry in the church today and will challenge you to create a plan that will be effective in your unique church environment.

Over the past 50 years the landscape of marriage in the U.S has changed dramatically. In 1960 nearly 70% of American adults were married; now only about half are:

In 1960 two-thirds of 20-somethings were married; in 2008 just 26% were
In 1960 439,000 couples lived together; Today 7,500,000 couples live together (13% increase between 2009 & 2010). One marriage scholar say 7/10 Christian kids will live with someone before marriage. “The problem is not divorce but failure of families to form”
In 1960 over 70 percent of American households consisted of a breadwinner father, a homemaker mother, and their kids. Today less than 15 percent of families make up this “traditional” profile making most church programs irrelevant
In 1960 five percent of babies were born out of wedlock; today 41% are
In 1960 nine percent of kids lived in single-parent homes; today 25% of kids do so

“How much does this matter? More than words can say. There is no other single force causing as much measurable hardship and human misery in this country as the collapse of marriage. It hurts children, it reduces mothers' financial security, and it has landed with particular devastation on those who can bear it least: the nation's underclass.”

Caitlin Flanagan, Time Magazine, July 02, 2009

Time Magazine

Who Can Participate

We have space reserved for 12 church teams, comprised of 3-5 team members per church.

Churches will be invited to apply for an interview based on meeting general qualifying criteria as follows:
The church is actively pursuing a marriage ministry.
The marriage ministry has the enthusiastic support of the senior leadership of the church.
The church has a desire to learn from other churches and share it’s own model of marriage ministry through participation in the collaborative leadership community process.
Church weekend worship attendance is 500+ (including adults and children).
The church agrees to participate fully in each of the four leadership community meetings.

Cost

Tuition for the Marriage Ministry Leadership Community is $6,000. This covers program fees and some meals for up to three team members for the two year experience (There is a small fee for additional team members). Travel, lodging, transportation and other related expenses are not included in the tuition fee. Meetings are held in the Leadership Network Collaborative Studio in Dallas, TX. The first gathering is November 20-22, 2013.

If fee is paid on or after February 1, 2013 in full before the first meeting, you will receive a 10% discount.

If you would like to find out more, please let us know. We would love to set up a time to talk with you. Please click here to fill out an application to apply or contact Vikki Huisman to set up a phone appointment via email (vikki.huisman @leadnet.org) or phone (309.721.0396).

For more information contact Chris Willard at chris.willard@leadnet.org or Julia Burk at julia.burk@leadnet.org.