Welcome...

...to engaged/dating couples, clergy, marriage educators, sponsor/mentor couples and anyone who is looking for information about how to establish and sustain the kind of life long marriage in which husband and wife treat one another as equals in dignity and both of them are committed to the project of parenting their children to become healthy human beings.

We live in a world in which too many couples begin marriage with high hopes and ideals only to crash and burn in divorce or (even if they stay together) their marriage becomes a disaster for them and their children. But you already know this......so, let's think together about what we can do to assist engaged/dating couples establish and sustain healthy and successful marriages.

Love is not enough!

Most every couple marries because they believe their love is strong enough to be the foundation of a successful marriage, yet the divorce rate of 50% is evidence that it take more than love to make a marriage work. Love, however, can provide the motivation for learning what social scientists today know are the essential skills for sustaining a healthy marriage. How does a couple know what to learn?

Key Features of For Better and For Ever

Fortunately, the trial and error efforts of clergy and the research of social scientists over the past 50 years have identified the essential skills of life long marriage and effective marriage preparation programs are designed to teach these skills. For Better and For Ever is not the only marriage preparation program, but we think it is the best because:

The For Better & For Ever workbook covers all the important topics/issues. 21 chapters include: Study of your Family of Origin, Money Matters & Career Planning, Planning the Wedding, Options for Mixed Religion Marriages, Parenting, Couples who are living together, Blended Families, Rituals of Engagement, Prayer, Marital Spirituality, and more. See > Table of Contents.
Five Editions: Catholic (English&Spanish&Vietnamese), Christian, and Covenant ("secular") - Address the diverse needs of couples!
User Friendly. The chapters are brief ~ usually 2 to 4 pages ~ and address issues in a style that is easy to read and understand. See Chapter 5 & Chapter 17.
Personal Responsibility. The format encourages couples to take initiative to learn about life long marriage and develop the skills necessary for living this kind of commitment. Each chapter concludes with an extensive series of questions for personal reflection and then dialogue with his/her partner. Also dialogue with a pastor, marriage educator or sponsor/mentor couple.
Designed for many different situation. Couples living far from one another during engagement can use For Better and For Ever for personal study and then dialogue by email, phone or letter.
A Resource for the important first year(s) of Marriage. When the honeymoon is over, For Better and For Ever includes questions for 3 months and 6 months into marriage for further reflection and conversations with one's spouse and Sponsor/Mentor Couple.

Sound interesting? Go back to the Home Page for more information. Check out the links for Engaged/Dating Couples - Clergy/Marriage Educators - Mentor/Sponsor Couples.