The health of our culture, its citizens, our churches, and our children is intimately linked to the health and well-being of our marriages. Marriage is the glue that holds the family together. Ministry to couples may sometimes seem a daunting task. However, the time is before us, more than ever, to take serious steps to ensure and restore the sanctity of marriage.

What is Covenant Marriage?

Traditional marriage in the United States is commonly defined as a contractual union between a man and a woman. It is a union "manufactured" by the couple and state authorities through the legal process of a local jurisdiction (either the county or city government). However, Center for Covenant-Based Marriage believes that marriage is a covenant intended by God to be a lifelong fruitful relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple vows to God, to each other, to their families, and to their community to remain steadfast in unconditional love, reconciliation, and sexual purity while purposefully growing in their covenant marriage relationship.

This is what many churches and organizations are adopting across the United States and in other countries. Churches and other organizations that adhere to this belief commit to providing extensive and effective ministries to married couples that are members of their congregation or are planning to be married within their congregation.

Center for Covenant-Based Marriage, through our comprehensive master plan for marriage ministry - LoveForever Marriage Ministry Plan - provides all the components necessary for your church or organization to have the best possible ministry to marriages, plus more!

Services

Our desire at Center for Covenant-Based Marriage is to help you and your church leaders develop a powerful and effective marriage ministry. If your church already has ministry to marriages or couples, we can help the church add dimensions that will enhance the existing ministry. The tools we provide blend seamlessly into existing marriage ministries, or essentially become the foundation for a new, enhanced, comprehensive ministry to marriages. If your church desires a marriage plan that is more than just a ceremony for weddings and the prerequisite pre-marital counseling, let us help you personalize a comprehensive plan that meets the needs of your couples and families.

Center for Covenant-Based Marriage provides services and resources that help churches take the necessary steps to prevent marriages from ever reaching a state of distress, and to revive those already in distress.

The following components make up the ministries of Center for Covenant-Based Marriage:

LoveForever Marriage Ministry Plan

This is a comprehensive plan that provides marriage ministry for church members on their journey from pre-marriage training and mentoring through the newlywed years through marriage enhancement through the end of the marriage due to one or more of the couple's passing. Each phase of ministry provided in the Plan includes effective curricula for classes and seminars, establishment of small groups, mentor couple assignments and training, and development of local resource centers. There are other journey-specific options, as well.

Seminars and Training

Center for Covenant-Based Marriage provides a number of marriage preparation, enrichment, and intervention seminars which can be geared specifically to your church's needs and desires. Each seminar can be tailored to meet your schedule, lasting from one day to one week. Seminars can also be mobile, even going on out-of-town retreats or cruises with your couples. Specific training is provided to pastors and other key leaders for the implementation of the LoveForever Marriage Ministry Plan.

Friends for Life Marriage Mentoring Program

At the heart of this overall plan is the program that matches mature, spiritually-guided couples with other couples to help them through their Journeys in the world of marriage. Couples that have built a strong marriage have a great opportunity to pass on to other couples what God has given then by becoming Marriage Mentor Coaches. We equip your church or organization with the necessary tools to have a successful and effective mentoring program. You and your staff receive the necessary training to help you identify the couples at all stages and ages that are needed to help you with this team. Consequently, you have mentor coaches available in all parts of your overall ministry to married couples.

LifeMates Online

Although you can find much more at LifeMates Online, our online store is dedicated to marriage-related books, tapes, CD's, DVD's, and periodicals. It provides you and the church with all the resources needed about covenant marriage and ministry in the church. Contact us for help regarding selections for your particular needs. Find what you are looking for at this great resource. And, at the same time, help support the many ministries of Center for Covenant-Based Marriage!

Covenant Resource Center (Coming soon)

This is an exciting addition to what's in store (no pun intended!) for you through this tremendous ministry! Our vision is to have physical Covenant Resource Centers at strategic locations throughout the United States and abroad that are more than just a bookstore. At Covenant Resource Centers you will find periodicals, books, videos, CD's, and other materials dedicated solely to marriages and the resultant covenant with God. Here you will be able to browse for the materials you need to help you in your journey through life in a covenant marriage. Bible study materials will also be available, which will help your small groups of friends, family, and neighbors learn how to have better marriages.

Why Should You Contract for Our Services?

We are a totally faith-based organization that relies upon the generosity and support of our ministry partners and supporters. Your organization is never charged a fee for our services, other than for the reasonable expenses incurred directly related to the project. Nowhere else will you find a more extensive, overall master plan for ministry to marriages for your church or organization! Other organizations offering marriage ministry provide certain services designed to address specific segments of marriage and marriage ministry. Some claim to provide a plan for all facets of marriage ministry, but then fail to deliver on their promise. Others simply provide the organization with resources that the organization must determine whether they are the best for their situation. None of them, however, fulfill the equipping and discipling responsibilities we believe are so near and dear to the heart of God when it comes to His family and the couples that are the centerpiece of the family unit. This is the big difference you will find with Center for Covenant-Based Marriage.

If your desire is for us to help you build a marriage ministry at your church or organization, or to make the one you currently have in place even more effective, the first thing needed is an evaluation of your marriage ministry by a qualified consultant. This evaluation will help you and your church see what you are doing right, and what you can have if you desire to have the most effective ministry to marriages possible.

Contact us at your earliest convenience to schedule a discussion with one of our consultants, and we'll be on our way to providing you with a ministry plan unmatched by any other!

Telephone: 214.495.0226

Email: marriages@hartwoodministries.net