Growing Marriages

Most premarital couples spend far more time, energy and resources preparing for their wedding ceremony, which lasts only a day, than they do preparing for their actual marriage relationship, which God intended to last a lifetime. At Fountain of Life church, we want to provide that preparation as well as continued opportunities for development after marriage.

This ministry was named Growing Marriages for two reasons:

1. Great marriage relationships don't just happen
2. Getting married is just the beginning. To develop strong, fulfilling marriages requires ongoing growth
   

This ministry will seek to empower marriages at every level, from premarital preparation to marriage enrichment to crisis counseling*

Premarital preparation
If you have a desire to get married in Fountain of Life church contact Pastor Rich Raad to set up an initial appointment (preferably at least 6 months in advance) to discuss your wedding day details. Pastor Rich will then give your names to the Marriage Mentoring coordinators who will contact you to set up a meeting to get an overview of the marriage preparation program, fill out the necessary forms, and pay the program fee. Based on that interview and the forms you fill out, the coordinators will select a Mentor couple that is the best match for you. Your Marriage Mentor couple will then contact you to setup the first session. If at any time you would like to switch mentor couples, contact the coordinators and they will do their best to accomodate your needs. We are here to serve you!

Typically our program includes 8 sessions, every other week, taking 16 weeks to complete. You should allow for this amount of time in your planning. Upon review, we can make exceptions and customize the program for unusual circumstances.

Marriage enrichment
We are still in the development stages, but would like to:

• Create a 8-12 week course
• Develop newly married couples small groups
• Develop a 1 day marriage enrichment seminar
• Have Mentor Couples for different stages of marriage: premarital, maximizing, and repairing.
  

Program Fee
$125, which includes the cost of the PREPARE inventory and scoring, books and workbooks, and ongoing support of the program.

For more info regarding the Growing Marriages ministry, contact:

Russ or Sharon Peterson 630-961-2637

*couples in crisis may be referred to a professional christian counselor.