Marriage Savers is a Proven Way to Increase the Success of Marriage, Reduce Divorce Rates, and Provide a Better Environment for Children to Thrive.
In Christ the Saviour, Jim and Tia have been trained to be a Mentor couple by Marriage Savers.
Mentor couples help other couples create stable relationships at every stage of the marital life cycle. Following is how Mentors prepare couples for marriage:
A. The PREPARE/ENRICH Assessment
Mentors administer the PREPARE/ENRICH premarital assessment which includes up to 200 relational issues to discuss. The engaged couple agrees or disagrees with statements such as:
- I go out of my way to avoid conflict with my partner.
- Sometimes I wish my partner were more careful about spending money.
The inventory gives a premarital couple an opportunity to talk about issues they didn’t know they needed to discuss. The inventory results are a bridge across the generations, giving the Mentor Couple specific issues that the young couple needs to discuss and a rare opportunity for the Mentors to pass on the wisdom that has made their marriage successful. Mentors might say, “The silent treatment does not work in a marriage; it provokes needless anger.” Or “Neither of us will spend more than $100 without consulting the other.”
B. Couple Exercises:
Trained Mentors also administer up to 20 exercises in a PREPARE/ENRICH Workbook to help couples prepare a budget, improve communication and conflict resolution skills, and set personal and couple goals. Marriage Savers has created additional exercises that will be included such as an “Optional Premarital Sexual Covenant,” an opportunity for premarital couples to pledge chastity until their wedding. Of 60 couples personally mentored by Mike & Harriet McManus, only ten were chaste. Of the remaining 50, 43 signed the Covenant, promising abstinence and accountability to their Mentors. Results: The mentorees all agreed that their communication improved and their respect for each other increased. Of the 60 couples, 9 chose not to marry. But we only know of one divorce of the rest.
Marriage Savers® has also created unique exercises for cohabiting couples to address this problem in a positive way. Using these materials with Mentors can reduce the likelihood of divorce and increase the probability of marital stability. Mentors are also equipped with how they might persuade couples to move apart, reducing conflict, aligning their relationship with God’s will, and giving them a fresh beginning at their wedding. In fact, Mike and Harriet McManus explain the mentoring process in their book on this issue, Living Together: Myths, Risks & Answers..