In the US, there is on average one divorce about every 36 seconds. That's nearly 876,000 divorces a year. The divorce rate only increases as the number of marriages increases, for a couple in their 3rd marriage, the divorce rate is 73%. It's worth knowing that the only thing bringing down the rate of divorce in the country is the fact that fewer people are getting married. More and more people see marriage as something to opt-out of in life.
Financial troubles, miscommunication, affairs, and addictions make getting through life together harder than ever. Not even considering that at any moment you can log onto social media and see some of your "couple friends" doing well, while other couples are calling it quits after one year, three years, even eight years of marriage. We look at our relationships, and wonder, "Can we make it?"
"YES! You can have a GREAT marriage." At Cross Culture we want to be a church of great neighbors, and we appreciate that our closest neighbor is our spouse. So we want to be a church of great marriages actively displaying God's love to our spouses. We kicked off our marriage ministry with a survey of the community and found that the marriages in our church are relatively young and are in good condition. There have been past hurts and a lack of diligence to care for one another in some relationships, and I say that so you know as you read this that you're not alone.
"we want to be a church of great marriages actively displaying God's love to our spouses."
We have a plan: we will provide resources and tools that will help you have a successful marriage, heal wounds and grow closer together. For example, we will consistently host Marriage Gatherings, an opportunity for couples to connect with others couples. Being together in this intimate group, we help build hope, strength, and joy into marriages with practical lessons and life-changing true stories from other couples.
We host fun events that enhance intimacy, renew passion, and refresh relationships; events like our upcoming Marriage Social on Saturday, November 10th. Lastly, we have marriage mentors! 82% of couples report wanting to have a mentor couple walk with them, and research shows that couples who have marriage mentors are happier and healthier.
“82% of couples report wanting to have a mentor couple walk with them."
We want to be a church of great marriages, and we will accomplish this by helping couples maximize their relationships, going from good to excellent, and repair what broke, so life together can be more fulfilling and in harmony. We started this post with some disturbing statistics. You don't have to be one of those statistics. We're here to help, plug into this community and take advantage of the exceptional resources, tools, events, and connections we have in place to see your marriage succeed.