Unmarried couples who live together make up almost 10 percent of all opposite-sex couples in the United States. Though that's 10 percent too many for most churches, for Trinity Fellowship Church in Amarillo, Texas, it was enough to take action—in a big way.
Last weekend 32 couples officially declared an end to their cohabiting by getting married in a mass ceremony called "The Big Summer Wedding" at the megachurch. The event culminated a four-week sermon series on marriage that was largely prompted by the rising number of cohabiting couples visiting the church for the first time.
"Our goal was pretty simple: We wanted to help couples," said Matt Spears, Trinity's executive pastor of ministry development. “We believe in marriage—one man and one woman—living in covenant with one another. So many people are living together and having kids together, for whatever reason they are running away from marriage. Many couples are not getting married for fear of failure; others are not getting married simply because they do not have the means to do so."
Given that last point, Trinity made the simultaneous weddings free for those who signed up (the church footed the $3,000 bill) and asked only for them to bring a state marriage license and a pair of wedding rings. Though it didn't force anything upon participating couples—both believers and nonbelievers alike—the church did encourage those making the vow to attend a pre-marriage counseling session and refrain from sex until their wedding night.
"We were a bit taken back at just how serious they took it," Spears said after this weekend. And though he classified the event as a small step toward "curing a large problem," he hopes it served as an encouragement for other couples living together but afraid of making a commitment. [christianpost.com, 8/21/09]
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