Starting Off Right: Your First Few Years in Marriage Ministry (Part 3)

by Ted Lowe and Doug Fields

(If this is the first MarriedPeople blog post you’ve read in awhile, you might be feeling like you walked into the middle of a conversation. So to get you up to speed, make sure you check out Part 1 and Part 2 of this series about Starting Off Right: Your First Few Years In Marriage Ministry.)

You’ve got buy-in from senior leadership. You’ve identified the point person. You’ve cast vision with a core team. You’ve paused to pray.

You’ve re-gathered for an “all in” planning session. You’ve determined a “Phase 1” Strategy for starting out. And you’ve determined your core content.

You’ve been busy. Take a minute to breathe. Great job so far. Ready for the last four steps? Then let’s dive in.

Step Eight: Create the Calendar
Securing dates in advance is a must for an effective marriage strategy. People are so busy that if they haven’t blocked events on their calendars in advance, your efforts will result in an empty room. Be advised: there are no perfect days. There is always going to be something that’s competing for your suggested event. Be wise, but at the end of the day, make sure your leaders will all be there, and put it on the calendar.

Step Nine: Get the word out
Marketing and messaging are crucial to the ministry’s attendance and success. Perhaps that is even truer for marriage ministry because most couples are so busy they have to be picky and selective about how they spend their time just for survival. The church is a noisy place with many different ministries trying to make themselves heard.

Step Ten: Be on the look out for leaders
From day one, you’ll need to be on the lookout for other leaders to come alongside you and develop your team. Here’s some leadership 101 stuff that we think is important enough to be reminded of—this ministry is bigger than you.
Everything rises and falls on the health of leadership. Surround yourself with the strengths of others. Look for people who will make your weaknesses seem irrelevant.

Step Eleven: Get feedback
Don’t take criticism too personally or praise too seriously. One person will say the music was awesome and someone else will complain that it was too loud and secular. As a leader, you’re going to have to be discerning when it comes to people’s input and seek Jesus for wisdom to make the right changes. Gather feedback to inform and help guide you; don’t let it defeat you. Prepare feedback cards or use easy online survey tools such as SurveyMonkey.com. Good leaders debrief and evaluate to see what’s working and what’s not.

There you go. Our prayer is that these steps are helpful to you. You should have some ideas of how to begin doing some amazing things in the lives of the couples in and around your church. The

MarriedPeople team would love to hear your stories and help in any way we can. Please let us know via email at info@marriedpeople.org.

 

This series of blog posts is excerpted from the book, Married People, How Your Church Can Build Marriages That Last. For more helpful tips on starting a marriage ministry, click here.

 

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