Marriages in today’s culture are hard pressed and need the Good News the Church can offer. They long for a path forward to greater fulfillment and meaning. Our own personal experience reminds us that married couples WILL have seasons of difficulty, and over time nearly 50% won’t survive.This is a battlefield the Church needs to enter. But shrinking budgets and reduced staffing leave churches wondering how best to effectively engage in the fight.
A complex couples-coaching ministry requires time to establish. It also requires a deep pool of volunteer couples with healthy marriages, sound curriculum with well-trained leadership, and a detailed structure for execution. Few churches of any size have the time, the means or experienced professional expertise to do couples ministry well. It is more effective and efficient for churches to graft into an ongoing ministry than to begin such a multi-faceted venture alone.
LifeQuest Couples Coaching is one ministry that offers a vision and a process for marriages to achieve greater fulfillment and meaning. It is a unique opportunity for couple discipleship, fostering a deeper understanding of how God created each man and woman for a specific purpose. Marriage partners learn to see one another through the eyes of Christ. Couples work through an eight-session curriculum in small home groups of 3-5 couples, facilitated by a trained volunteer coach couple. LifeQuest couples become more complete expressions of who God made them to be. As marriage partners come to realize they are made in the image of God, they develop a greater level of cooperation and intimacy.
LifeQuest Couples Coaching is a ministry that enables multiple churches to partner together to provide ministry organization, curriculum, training, and supporting resources. Churches ready to have an impact on marriages can quickly launch this couples’ ministry. Interested couples can join home groups already scheduled to begin every spring and fall semester. Churches share responsibility for financial support for training, curriculum development and promotional activities. Multiple home group locations and times provide more choices for busy couples.
All home groups share the same structure based on individual exercises using the Your One Degree Discovery Workbook. LIfeQuest Couples Coaching adds exercises for couple relationships and harnesses the power of small group dynamics. These elements maximize participant learning. All Coach Couples receive in-depth training and ongoing supervision. Professional supervisors help with difficult situations and make referrals to professional counselors when necessary. A path forward for further training is available for home group alumni who desire to become coach couples.
Churches join the co-op with an initial membership fee and maintain membership with a modest monthly participation fee based on the size of the congregation. These monies help offset the expense of couple coach training, maintenance of a unique participant data base, the website and social media content. Fees also support future development of the ministry to allow more churches and couples to participate. Leaders of member churches have access to unlimited consultations with LifeQuest Couples ministry directors.
Churches of all denominations can join together in supporting this ministry to married couples. Even small churches can participate by joining the co-op and train leadership couples for future home groups. As each participating couple finds and refines their specific purpose to impact the Kingdom of God, they bring new energy to ministries in their home church.
