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Family Consulting Centre's work wins praise and recognition Gulf Times Another major programme targets the pre-marital phase of engaged couples to make them aware of a healthy marriage and the adverse consequence of ... |
From: National Marriage Week USA <sheila@nationalmarriageweekusa.org>
Date: Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 4:51 PM
Subject: NEW Tools and Events from National Marriage Week USA! (Feb. 7-14)
To: billcoffin68@gmail.com
National Marriage Week USA
Let's Strengthen Marriage
February 7-14
www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org
NEW TOOL KIT to strengthen marriage in your community
DATE NIGHT CHALLENGE 2-hour webcast for National Marriage Week USA
MARRIAGE INTENSIVE to revitalize your own marriage, or help others
You can strengthen marriages in your community, reduce divorce and cohabitation, and serve the needs of children, by joining with others to participate in National Marriage Week USA -- February 7 to 14th -- the week leading up to Valentine's Day.
Our Goals:
1) mobilize thousands of marriage classes, home groups and events across the nation, posted all on one national calendar; and
2) promote the benefits of marriage through the media and public policy makers in your community.
Simple Steps 1, 2, 3
1. Use our NEW, free TOOL KIT to spread the positive message about the benefits of marriage! Tool Kit includes Suggested Curricula, Webinars, Logos, Sample Press Releases, Mayor/Governor Proclamation, Newspaper Ads, Research, PSAs, downloadable Brochures, Marriage Tips, and more. (http://www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org/free-campaign-materials).
2. Plan to HOST a marriage class, home group, Sunday school class. Use any trusted marriage curricula, DVD, or workbook of your choosing – the National Marriage Week USA website lists many trusted existing options. (http://www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org).
3. Please POST your event for free to help us build a growing National Calendar! This will help us get national media coverage about where folks can go to help their struggling marriages. (http://www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org/find-events-in-your-area).
Please JOIN THE TEAM -- Post Your Event, no matter how small or large, so we can help publicize your efforts, or register just to stay informed, at www.NationalMarriageWeekUSA.org.
DATE NIGHT CHALLENGE EVENT is NEW this year -- a 2-hour webcast with Dr. Greg Smalley and Comedian Jeff Allen called "Date Night Challenge." More than 275 church and small groups have signed up already for this fun event. Sign up today! (http://www.focusonthefamily.com/about_us/events/date-night-challenge.aspx).
MARRIAGE INTENSIVES (www.familydynamics.net) to revitalize your own marriage or for those in crisis. Family Dynamics Institute provides classes and workshops developed by therapists, marriage counselors, and ministers representing different denominations. Since 1994, more than 65,000 couples have experienced a class, training, or workshop, which are educational, motivational, and interactive. Family Dynamics also can help you build a Comprehensive Marriage Ministry at your local church. New Beginnings is the Family Dynamics intensive workshop for couples in crisis. Click here to learn more about Family Dynamics. Click our National Calendar and plug in your state to find one of the hundreds of Family Dynamics classes near you!
National Marriage Week USA is part of International Marriage Week, with 16 major countries around the world now mobilizing leaders and events to strengthen marriage in their countries.
Please LIKE National Marriage Week USA on Facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Marriage-Week-USA/191520197543448
Let's Work Together...Let's Strengthen Marriage!
Sheila Weber
Executive Director, National Marriage Week USA (Feb. 7 to 14)
Sheila@NationalMarriageWeekUSA.org
www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org
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From: NARME <maggie@narme.org>
Date: Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 12:22 PM
Subject: Extending Presenter Application deadline by one week!
To: billcoffin68@gmail.com
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From: Every Marriage Matters <everymarriagematters@comcast.net>
Date: Tue, Jan 3, 2012 at 2:30 PM
Subject: Five Minutes for Marriage
To: billcoffin68@gmail.com
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From: National Center for Family & Marriage Research <ncfmr@bgsu.edu>
Date: Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 11:25 AM
Subject: News and Notes
To: billcoffin68@gmail.com
Having trouble viewing this email? Click here |
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From: MarriageVine Ministries [mailto:rick@marriagevine.ccsend.com] On Behalf Of MarriageVine Ministries
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2012 11:30 PM
To: billandpatcoffin@verizon.net
Subject: Grandparenting and Marriage
Having trouble viewing this email? Click here |
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From: Michael J. McManus <mike@marriagesavers.org>
Date: Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 10:43 PM
Subject: America's Marriage Rate Plunges - Ethics & Religion Col. #1,583
December 28, 2011
Column #1,583
America’s Marriage Rate Plunges
By Mike McManus
Only 51 percent of Americans are currently married – a record low – down from 72 percent in 1960, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census data.
There are three major factors behind these trends.
First, the number of never-married Americans has nearly doubled from 15 to 28 percent from 1960-2010. Pew said that many couples are cohabiting instead of marrying because “they fear divorce.” Why? Many are adult children of divorce who do not want to live through such pain again.
Second, the number of divorced and un-remarried people has grown from 5 to 14 percent of the population.
Third, in the last 50 years the age at which people marry has jumped six years to 26 for women, and for men, to 29 years. Today only a fifth of adults aged 18-29 are married vs. three times as many in 1960, 59 percent.
What’s troubling to me is not the later age at which people marry, which is generally wise, but the fact so many have never married. Only 72 percent of today’s adults have ever married vs. 85 percent in 1960.
This is a big cultural change. What is behind this shift? Another recent Pew survey reported that four in ten Americans (39 percent) think marriage is “becoming obsolete.”
What I find particularly interesting is that 47% of those who think marriage is becoming obsolete say they would like to marry – virtually the same share (45 percent) of unmarried adults who think marriage is not becoming obsolete, who say they want to wed.
Those numbers suggest a strategy for churches, who perform nine of ten weddings: make a case for marriage from the pulpit. True, there aren’t many cohabiting couples in church, but there are millions of church-going parents of adult children who do not know what to say to them.
What are the best arguments that pastors might make about the value of marriage?
I recommend that clergy read “The State of Our Unions: Marriage in America 2011,” by the Institute for American Values (IAV.org). Its co-authors are W. Bradford Wilcox of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia and Elizabeth Marquardt of IAV’s Center for Marriage and Families.
Their report provides scientific evidence of what every pastor has long believed: “Couples who both agree that `God is at the center of our marriage’ are at least 26 percentage points more likely to report that they are `very happy.” While 50 percent of both men and women report being very happy, of those who believe God is at the center of their marriage, 77 percent of women and 76 percent of men are very happy.
These more religious couples are also more likely to report high levels of commitment and a pattern of generous behavior toward one another. “In other words, marital spirituality is linked to beliefs and behaviors that strengthen the marriage bond,” said the report.
Similarly, mothers and fathers who see parenting as one of “life’s greatest joys,” are about twice as likely to reporting being very happy in their marriages. It is one of the “Top Five Predictors of Marital Success.”
However, the report cautions that “parenthood is typically associated with lower levels of marital happiness.” Having a baby requires sacrifices such as a loss of sleep, less disposable income and often, less quality time with one another, resulting in less sex.
And there is a sad paradox among young Americans. While most would like to have two or three children, “a growing share of young women and men believe that a good marriage is personally unattainable, and more are raising children outside of marriage.”
However the report, “When Baby Makes Three,” provides new evidence that both husbands and wives – but wives especially – are “more likely than their childless peers to feel their lives have a sense of meaning and purpose.” And a substantial minority of married couples do not experience parenthood as an obstacle to marital happiness.
What is their secret? Two answers are shared housework chores and sexual satisfaction. One surprise is that the happiest wives and husbands today “are those with no children and those with four or more children.”
Another important factor is education. Americans without college degrees are three times as likely to divorce in the first ten years of marriage vs. those with college education.
Most important, however, is a shared faith that endows marriage “with transcendent significance.” Attending services together is a top predictor of marital stability.
Finally, “parenthood makes life meaningful and marriage makes parenthood bearable.”
Copyright © Michael J. McManus is President of Marriage Savers and a syndicated columnist.
My new email address is mike@marriagesavers.org
Michael J. McManus
syndicated columnist
"Ethics & Religion"
President & Co-Chair
Marriage Savers
9311 Harrington Dr.
Potomac, MD 20854
www.marriagesavers.org
301-469-5873
From: Carolyn Rich Curtis <info@skills4us.org>
Date: Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 2:27 PM
Subject: The Relationship Skills Center Creates Joy and Love
To: billcoffin68@gmail.com
Beech Acres is one of 60 agencies nationwide to receive grant for ... Cincinnati.com More than 85% of those served through the pilot reported having improved communication and conflict resolution skills and a commitment to a healthy marriage ... |