Dear Friends,

In the King James translation of the Bible, marriage is discussed as a process of “leaving and cleaving.”  In today’s world, we could many times add another sad “leaving” to the end of the process as the national divorce rate is very high. The rate of those unhappy in their marriages is even greater and Christian couples are not immune from these statistics.

As a church, we believe marriage to be a sacred covenant and we desire to uphold the command of Hebrews 13:4: “Marriage should be honored by all.” Beginning January 1, 2013, Cornerstone Church partnered with TWOgether Marriage Mentoring to implement a marriage-mentoring program within our own church body.  TWOgether is a local Christian ministry that works directly with Linn County churches to train and develop marriage mentors to serve engaged and married couples for the fostering of healthy marriages.

Dave and I have been asked to be the lead mentor couple (serving beside Pastor Matt) for Cornerstone’s participation in the ministry.  We were very surprised when he asked us as we know that we are deeply flawed and do not have a model marriage.  He assured us that he knew that!  What we do bring is a reverence for marriage – a belief in our marriage commitment – and nearly 44 years of working with God’s help to honor and keep that promise. We will be learning and working alongside any who decide to travel this route as the Lord reveals and leads.

The TWOgether opportunity will be discussed at the Ministry Team meeting next Monday (2/11) and further information will be coming to the whole congregation shortly thereafter on Sunday February 17.  Please pray for the discussion and planning to be completed with full dependence on the Lord, for His guidance, and that hearts would be prepared, open, and willing to bring our marriage relationships into their full potential! More information on TWOgether Marriage Mentoring is available online: www.twogethermarriagementoring.com)

Sincerely and with a prayerful thank you,
Mary Lou and Dave Erlacher