The gloomier the figures for the institutions of marriage and family, the more desperately McManus looked for answers. His ideas are catching on. . . . . In every congregation there are couples with solid, vibrant marriages who could be of help to other couples but have never been asked, trained or inspired to do so. If people lived the faith they professed, reasoned McManus, the United States no longer would host one of the world's highest divorce rates. Marriage Savers engages the churches and the community, says Harriet McManus, who cochairs the small nonprofit with her husband, rendering it more effective than pro-marriage legislation.
Churches can help couples bond.
And its broad community appeal makes Marriage Savers more than just another well-meaning church program. It communicates the conviction by pastors that what God has joined together the church should hold together. Their church held a hush as bridesmaids in dark green gathered at the altar of Christ Lutheran Church, crimson flowers in hand. Pachelbel's Canon was played and 150 heads turned to follow Sarah's progression down the aisle toward a new life as the wife of Chris Arnold. . . . . While many churches invest far more in helping an engaged couple prepare for the day of the wedding than for a lifetime union, Christ Lutheran's director of pastoral care and family life, the Rev. Jeffrey Meyers, had led 40 other suburban Kansas City, Kan., clergy in signing a Community Marriage Covenant and was committed to doing whatever he could to strengthen the marriages of couples who came to him. . . . .