One such group, Marriage Savers, is a lay ministry that has helped 5,500 clergy in 125 cities to organize community marriage policies and covenants. For these programs, clergy agree to require engaged couples to undergo four months of marriage preparation and encourage marriage-enrichment and intervention programs. They also train lay mentor couples to help engaged couples, newlyweds and troubled marriages. In communities that have adopted such a policy, the divorce rate has fallen by 10 times the decline in divorces nationally. In many cases, their efforts are not grounded solely in religious teachings, as often was the case in earlier decades, but in a growing body of scientific research that affirms the benefits of marriage for men, women and their children and by sound educational programs to strengthen current and future marriages that are making a quiet, but long-term difference.
Most people cherish the companionship that marriage can bring.
Our culture doesn't have to remain mired in narcissism. The creative minds of Hollywood and TV land could discover whole new worlds if they would just open their eyes. I'll bet many of us would be willing to pay a few dollars to go along for the ride if they did. But, if not, we'll just have to go ahead without them and hope they catch up some day. All rights reserved.