| dc.description.abstract | The world is not hospitable to lifelong marriage. With a national divorce rate
over 50%, divorce ends more marriages than death. Christian churches in America have
recognized the fact and is trying to address it. Couples sign up for counseling, seminars, and
retreats. And despite all the money spent to fix marriages, the divorce rate has remained level
after decades of steady increase.
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) pastors recognize the same challenges.
One avenue that has been underutilized is a preemptive approach. At the same time that young
people are intensely preparing for college and for careers, the church can be intensely preparing
them for marriage. Real preparation is more than simply giving young people the latest
communication techniques or stress relieving habits, but it is developing and maturing their faith
through Word and sacrament.
Word and sacrament build up a faith confident of its status before God. A confident faith
looks ahead to marriage as a way to live out its status. This project will do two things: 1)
identify and refute the most malicious lies directed at single people and 2) suggest a few methods
by which churches and ministers can intentionally combat those messages and supplant them
with the messages of Scripture. | en_US |
