May 29, 1999
Column #926
THE COVENANT
MARRIAGE MOVEMENT
Twenty-four Christian
organizations with 31 million members are launching a new Covenant Marriage
Movement with a dream that millions of married couples will sign pledge
cards with this simple but eloquent statement:
''Believing that marriage is a
covenant intended by God to be a lifelong relationship between a man and
a woman, we vow to God, each other, our families, and our community to
remain steadfast in unconditional love, reconciliation, and sexual
purity, while purposefully growing in our covenant marriage
relationship.''
The Southern Baptist Convention,
America's largest Protestant denomination, will feature the Covenant
Marriage pledge at its June national convention that draws 10,000+
''messengers'' from local congregations. The SBC has demonstrated the
power of a similar pledge, ''True Love Waits,'' signed by two million teens,
which has been so successful that for the first time in 20 years, a majority
of high school students are still virgins!
Phil Waugh, who is with SBC's
LifeWay Christian Resources, the nation's largest Christian publisher, hopes
the Marriage Covenant will be a similar instrument ''through which God can
speak with one voice to all those trying to strengthen marriage. In signing
a couple can stand with thousands of couples with one voice and one heart
affirming God's design of one man and one woman for life.'' He is one of the
movement's organizers.
The Assemblies of God convention
in Orlando this summer will also spotlight the Marriage Covenant to its
10,000 attendees. Others doing so are such radio ministries as Focus
on the Family, the Moody Bible Institute, and FamilyLife, an organization
that also sponsors weekend retreats that attract nearly 100,000 people a
year.
FamilyLife has also pledged
to organize four one-day arena rallies for married couples called ''I STILL
Do.'' Promise Keepers has attracted hundreds of thousands of men, and
Women of Faith events gather many women, but no one has organized couples to
celebrate marriage. FamilyLife will help couples rediscover the
passion of their marriage vows in San Diego on June 19, San Jose on June 26,
Washington, D.C. July 10 and Houston Oct. 23.
A number of outstanding speakers
will talk about the meaning of the marriage vows. ''I Take You'' is a
message on commitment how to give and receive unconditional
love. ''To Love, Honor, Cherish'' will explore what love is, how we
can fulfill the promise to communicate, offer forgiveness and
reconciliation. ''To Have and To Hold'' is a message on
emotional, sexual and spiritual intimacy in marriage. ''To Be Your
Husband/Wife'' focuses on how we are to complement and not compete with our
spouse and enjoy a more harmonious marriage.
The rallies will end with
husbands and wives restating their marriage vows. And they will be
given a four week HomeBuilders Bible study designed to involve other
couples. Family Life founder Dennis Rainey says, ''It is no mistake that the
Bible begins with a marriage and ends with a marriage. It is the first
institution that God created.'' To learn more, call 1-800-358-6329.
One of the creators of the
movement is state Rep. Tony Perkins, who persuaded Louisiana's Legislature
to pass a Covenant Marriage Law creating a two-tiered marriage system.
Couples getting married have a choice between a standard marriage
certificate written with disappearing ink, if either partner walks away in a
no-fault divorce; or couples can choose a Covenant Marriage, a fortified
marriage intended to last a lifetime, in which both relinquish the right to
a no-fault divorce. They agree to take premarital counseling, and if
their marriage hits rough waters, to seek professional help. Divorce
is possible, but only if one partner proves a spouse has committed adultery,
been physically abusive, etc.
However, Perkins found the
ability of government to promote marriage is limited. Only three percent of
couples marrying in Louisiana are choosing a Covenant Marriage. Therefore he
urges America's faith community to ask couples to ''renew their vows to one
another.''
The final organizer is Rev. Leo
Godzich, associate pastor of Phoenix First Assembly, America's largest
Assembly of God, and creator of the National Association of Marriage
Enhancement (www.nameonline.net),
churches working to get back to biblically-based, Christ-centered marriages.
He believes it is important for
couples to ''affirm that in this climate of divorce that their marriage is
permanent and lasting.''
Dennis Rainey adds, ''This is the
beginning of the end of the culture of divorce. It is the first time I know
of that a number of denominations and parachurch ministries have joined
together to raise the standard of the Marriage Covenant back to its rightful
place.''
Copyright 1999 Michael J. McManus. |
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