Community Marriage Covenant
Madison County, Alabama

This covenant expresses the common bond of clergy in our community to establish healthy marriages and strengthen existing marital relationships for the welfare of our homes, families, and greater community.¹

We believe

• God has established the sanctity and companionship of marriage in scripture (Gen 2:24).
• God intends the marriage bond between husband and wife to last for a lifetime (Mal 2:16, Matt 19:5-6).
• As clergy we have a responsibility before God to establish a standard for marriage preparation, enrichment of existing marital relationships, and restoration of couples in need (1 Pet 5:2-3).

Therefore, we commit to

• Encourage a courtship of at least one year.
• Promote sexual abstinence outside of marriage, while affirming fidelity in the marital relationship.
• Identify, inspire, and train couples with strong marriages to serve as mentor couples for engaged couples, newlywed couples, couples experiencing marital difficulties, or couples wishing to strengthen their relationship.
• Support a minimum premarital preparation process of four to six months, which includes six premarital counseling/mentoring sessions providing spiritual guidance, the use of an effective premarital inventory, and marriage education.
• Supportenrichment opportunities for established marriages such as classes, seminars, and retreats.
• Supportstepfamily groups to help parents of stepchildren learn how to be successful parents and partners.
• Provide intervention for marriages in crisis.
• Cooperate with other congregations and organizations by sharing resources for the purpose of building and promoting healthy marriages in our community.

Signed _________________________ Date: _________________

Print name/church_______________________________________

¹ Note: This is not intended as a legally binding agreement, but a public commitment. Specific matters are subject to individual clergy judgment with liberty to pursue what may be done in faith and good conscience.

National Marriage Facts and Statistics

The Problem – A Devastating Marriage Crisis

The four primary elements of the marriage crisis:

Marriage - The marriage rate has plunged 43% since 1970. If the same percentage of couples were marrying now as in 1970, there would be a million more marriages a year.

Divorce - Half of all new marriages still end in divorce. There have been 38 million divorces since 1970, impacting 35 million children. Children of divorce are three times as likely to be expelled or to have a baby as a teenager, five times as likely to live in poverty, and 12 times more likely to be incarcerated according to the Heritage Foundation. Even worse, when children of divorce become adults, only 60% marry, they are more likely to divorce, and divorced men die 10 years sooner than married men.

Cohabitation - The number of unmarried couples living together has soared 12-fold from 430,000 in 1960 to 5 million. There are only 2.2 million marriages a year. Cohabitation has become the dominant way male-female unions are formed. However, those who marry after living together are 50% more likely to divorce.

Unwed births - The percentage of children born out-of-wedlock rose again in 2003 to a stunning 35%. Cohabiting couples are as likely to have children as married couples.

The Possibility – Community Marriage Policies (CMP)

According to the Heritage Foundation, “A well executed community marriage covenant can save up to 80% of marriages headed for divorce, reconcile more than 50% of separate couples, enable 80% of step families to be successful parents and marriage partners”

A community marriage policy (CMP) consists of a signed pledge by a coalition of clergy representing a diverse cross-section of congregations in the community to make marriage a priority in their church. Specifics vary by city, but the CMP core ingredients include: 1.) minimum time of marriage preparation, 2.) require anyone getting married to take a premarital inventory, and 3.) train older couples in good marriages to mentor other couples (in different stages).

The Impact – Community Marriage Policies (CMP)

Modesto, CA - divorce dropped 57%, new marriage increased 11%, teen pregnancy decreased 30%, school dropouts decreased 20%, cohabitation decreased 14% (while increased 20-30% nationwide)

Tallahassee, FL - Live the Life Ministries has pushed down Tallahassee’s divorce rate by 23% and has built a CMP with a budget of $600,000 raised locally.

Dalton, GA - From 2003 to 2005 the number of divorces fell from 1,050 to 789, a 24% drop. Judges who perform civil weddings were also encouraged to require premarital couples to take an inventory.

Austin, TX - After 252 pastors signed its Community Marriage Policy in 1996, the average number of divorces fell to 2,319 in 1999-2000, a steep 29% drop in the divorce rate.

Kansas City, KS - In Johnson County, a suburb of Kansas City, the divorce rate fell 65.9% while it rose by 11.2% in comparable counties.