Couples desirous of being married at the People’s Cathedral are required to attend the three months pre-marital classes conducted by a pastoral counselor. The importance of completing this class before you say, “I do” is to help you navigate through the complexities of a marriage relationship, whether it is in the area of communication, finances or parenting skills.
Too many couples adopt a let’s-wait-and-see-what-will happen-and-address-it-then attitude, thereby setting up their marriage for failure. Pre-marital classes address diverse topics as it relates to married life, reducing the likely hood of participants’ marriages becoming a divorce statistic; especially among Christian marriages.
The Married Couples meet upstairs of the school building in the Upper Room. This ministry is designed to help strengthen marriages and to enable and foster healing in relationships.
The Vision of the marriage ministry is to see marriages established, strengthen and sustained through the understanding and application of the principles pertaining to marriage found in God’s Word.
Understanding God’s Word, the responsibilities of husbands and wives and understanding the importance of strong families are the core values of this ministry.
The Marriage ministry has been able, since 1997, to counsel hundreds of couples who were contemplating marriage into understanding what marriage is about and the responsibilities that husbands and wives undertake when they get married.
The Married Couples class has several functions: to encourage couples in their marriage, by providing a forum where questions may be asked and experiences shared. Our class also formulates seminars which can benefit our couples. Picnics, hikes and get-togethers are regulars in the marriage ministry class. Couples in this ministry recognize that they are not alone in their struggles. The counseling received helps in identifying the root of their problems and discovering their solutions.
In 2006, a couple of our ministers attended an International Marriage Enhancement Seminar in Phoenix, Arizona. (N.A.M.E.)
Our Marriage ministry has benefited tremendously as a result of this trip. Invaluable information, key contacts and professional training in marital issues, are but a few of the priceless gems which are now available to members and visitors to the Cathedral.
Under the leadership of Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Holmes Williams, Rev. Joseph and Rev. Symmonds are especially excited about the prospects of fostering a divorce-proof church. It is still God’s “blue-print” for marriages to be built upon His Word, and Christian marriages ought to take the lead in God’s Divine Design.
Several books, tapes, CDs, DVDs, and even professional courses in marriage counseling are now available and can be acquired from TPC’s Marriage ministry. These are suitable for both pre-marital counseling and marital counseling. |
