01
The Basics
What is marriage mentoring?
It’s the process of having a seasoned and experienced couple (nobody said anything about being “perfect”) come alongside a less experienced couple to help show them the way.
What’s the big picture for marriage mentoring?
Our goal is to see a million marriage mentors “wake up” in the local church, lower the divorce rate, and help make good marriages great! It will be a social revolution like no other – impacting generations to come. And it’s doable.
Why is marriage mentoring important?
Because it works! 82% of couples report wanting to have a mentor couple walk with them. Second, research shows that couples who have marriage mentors are happier and healthier. Enough said.
Am I Marriage Mentor material?
If you want to explore further, take this 30-second Self-Assessment:
- Are you relatively happy in your marriage?
- Do you both share a motivation to become trained as Marriage Mentors?
- Are you able to laugh and learn from your mistakes?
- Are you invested in growing your own marriage?
- Are you committed to your spouse?
- Are you willing to share some of your time to help another couple?
If you answered “yes” to these six questions, you’ve got what it takes to learn the rest. Join us!
02
About Certification
What is the Marriage Mentor Academy?
It’s a simple and fun way for couples to learn how to help other couples – on your own computer anywhere, anytime. The Course is divided into eight, 25 minute sessions. Do it over a weekend or over several weeks. You can even turn each session into a Date Night. It includes movie suggestions, recipes and bonus discussion questions.
Together we’re making a difference! We hope you’ll join this powerful network of marriage mentor couples.
What does it take to be a Marriage Mentor?
To become a certified Marriage Mentor couple you must, first of all, have:
- A relatively happy – but certainly not perfect – marriage
- A shared motivation to be Marriage Mentors.
Of course, it takes much more than this to be effective as marriage mentors – 12 skills to be exact – but that’s what you’ll learn in this certification process. Now, if you want to explore further, take this 30-second Self-Assessment.
How do I register for the Academy?
It’s easy, click here.
You’ll get registered and into the training in about 5 minutes. And come back as often as you like. We’re constantly adding more resources to ensure our Mentors are a success!
03
Fees & Resources
How much does it cost?
Money shouldn’t be a hurdle to any couple joining our ranks. An online training course like this is often over $150. But, as a nonprofit, we just aim to cover our costs. You can learn more about our the suggested donation levels here.
What is included with my Mentor Academy membership?
In addition to the online training sessions, you’ll receive:
- Your own Personal Journal with questions for you and your spouse to explore together
- A personalized graduation certificate – once you complete the training
- Date night movie and meal suggestions
- Connect to other mentor couples in our online mentor community
- Access ongoing training and resources that are constantly growing
What is the Marriage Mentoring Triad?
There are three key areas to the mentoring workflow: Prepare, Repair and Maximize. Each track is tailored to the season of marriage your mentoree couple is going through. We offer resources to help mentoree couples
Prepare
A couple preparing to marry or newly married are in the very beginning stages of a lifelong love relationship. When a mentor couple comes alongside a couple preparing for marriage or newly married, they have the opportunity to cultivate positive habits right from the start that will benefit this young couple for decades.
There are many predictable issues for engaged and newlywed couples as they establish roles, deal with conflict, handle money, develop sexual intimacy and decide how they will celebrate family holidays and create family traditions.
When another more experienced married couple comes alongside a less experienced couple; and is able to normalize predictable issues, this relationship has the ability to lighten the load and give hope to the younger couple for their relationship to endure.
“Therefore, a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife. They become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24
Repair
This piece of the mentoring triad incorporates couples who are in crisis and possibly even teetering on the brink of divorce.
Have you suffered a personal crisis in your own marriage? Has your good marriage bumped head-first into something bad? If so, your story and your life may be a powerful marriage mentoring tool for helping couples in distress.
With the hope and encouragement of a mentor couple who has gone through a similar crisis and found deeper intimacy on the other side, they are now able to help another couple find their way through the abyss.
“God of all healing and Counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.” 2 Corinthians 1:4
Maximize
Marriages that are doing well need mentors, too. We would like to see every church building up marriage relationships as a regular practice. Couples that are doing well have the potential of doing great.
Ask any couple who is sailing along pretty well in their marriage what is keeping them from getting to the next level and they will state their desire for 1) better communication or 2) more time together. Getting intentional in a mentoring relationship can help reveal some ways to improve an already good marriage.
“We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” 1 Thessalonians 2:8
Materials for each track
04
For Pastors
Do I need a staff person to launch my own program?
No. And no need for a new budget line, either. This can all be handled by lay people (we show them how). Of course, if you already have a marriage ministry, this is a fantastic way to augment it.
Can Marriage Mentoring help us with our evangelism?
Yes! We see mentoring as a fantastic avenue for inviting couples to your church who do not already attend. When couples look to improve their marriages, they should look to the church – your church. We’ll give you the tools to build a thriving Marriage Mentoring ministry that attracts new families to your church.
Do we have to use your material with our mentorees?
No, and that makes us unique. Once your mentors have completed the training and certification in our Mentor Academy, they’re welcome to use any materials that fit the needs of their mentorees. While we have our own materials that work well, there are many others who produce great relationship enriching content.