LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARYDISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAM

Pre-Marital Curriculum Project:

PRESENTED TO DR. SCOTT HAWKINS IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE COURSEPREMARITAL AND MARITAL COUNSELING

PACO 603

BYPAUL J. LIMATO 111NORFOLK, VIRGINIA

MAY 11, 2012

Introduction and Rationale

This Curriculum is being used at Aletheia Norfolk, the church that I pastor and planted. The community in which I reside is an urban setting and it has not ascribed to the marriage covenant movement per say. However, Pre-Marriage counseling is highly recommended.

The church I am presently on staff at as the Lead Pastor requires all couples requesting to be married by any staff member go through marriage counseling. This can be done in as little as 6 sessions which last between 90 minutes and 2 hours. These counseling sessions cover a packet we have put together that covers a variety of issues. We will be discussing some of these within this paper as well as some we will look at adding to the agenda.

Personally I believe marriage is an institution ordained by God and the marriage ceremony should be viewed as a worship service. Psalm 127:1 states, “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” (NKJV) We also see in Genesis 2:18-24 Adam receives his wife from God and that marriage is meant to be permanent in God’s eyes. With this in mind I believe it is very important to counsel couples seeking to be joined together with Scripture in order for them to realize the covenant relationship they are entering into with their spouse as well as with God.

CurriculumThe Curriculum that we use at Aletheia Norfolk has been written and developed based upon the truths of scripture. Our desire within the 6 weeks of pre-marital counseling at Aletheia Norfolk is that each couple will be equipped to live out the gospel within their respective marriages to the glory of God. Each of the sessions will be delivered in a lecture type format as a class due to the number of young dating couples in our church. This material can also be gone through with a couple on a individual basis as well. Our hope would be in the long-run to make it into a video based curriculum that would be some-what self guided with a initial interview with a member of the pastoral team and a wrap-up interview/session to answer any questions as well as plan out the wedding day ceremony.

The Aletheia Norfolk Pre-Marital Curriculum consists of 6 Sessions (led by a member of the pastoral team: in a class setting or counseling sessions), Power point, Discussion Questions (Homework / study), and (hopefully soon a video based learning aspect).

COURSE LAY-OUT:PRE-COUNSELING MEETING AND ASSESSMENT SESSION 1: The Purpose of MarriageSESSION 2: The Nature of MarriageSESSION 3: Marriage on MissionSESSION 4: Complementary Roles in MarriageSESSION 5: Cultivating Intimacy in Marriage (INTIMACY) SESSION 6: Confession, Repentance, and Forgiveness (CONFLICT RESOLUTION/COMMUNICATION) PRE-WEDDING PLANNING MEETING FOLLOW-UP

Conclusion and Follow-upEach couple will go through an initial interview processes as well as a concluding interview/ session with a member of the pastoral team. The concluding interview/ session will also be used to plan the wedding ceremony from a logistical aspect. The pastor responsible for the couple going through the counseling will also be responsible to follow-up with that couple at least 3 times within the first year of the marriage to follow-up on the health and vitality of the marriage.