wfn.org | Adventists Join With Community to Help Build Marriage "Safety-Nets"

["Beckett, John" <BeckettJ@gc.adventist.org>]

ANN Bulletin
Adventist News Network
Seventh-day Adventist Church World Headquarters
February 8, 2000
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Adventists Join With Community to Help Build Marriage "Safety-Nets"
London, England ... [ANN]

Political and religious leaders in Britain are meeting to consider an
innovative program designed to build strong marriages and reduce divorce
rates.  Anglican and Catholic Bishops, Members of Parliament and Seventh-day
Adventist leaders are among the group that will discuss the so-called
"Marriage Savers" program-an American initiative that has been credited with
causing a one-third drop in marriage break-ups in two American cities.

"Marriage Savers" has been developed by an American couple, Mike and Harriet
McManus, and is based on a system of mentoring within a church congregation.
As Mike McManus explains, "an older couple in a strong, long-term marriage .
. . are trained to be a 'Mentor Couple' to help other couples to be
successful. Every congregation has such couples, but they have rarely been
asked, inspired or trained to come alongside another couple and be helpful."

Bernie Holford, Family Ministries director for the Adventist Church in the
South England region, has spearheaded the implementation of the McManus'
approach in Britain through his "Marriage Saver Congregation" training
program for pastors. 

The "Marriage Savers" summit is part of National Marriage Week and is aimed
at developing new approaches to curb Britain's burgeoning divorce rate. [BUC
News/ANN Staff] 
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