Want to Save Money on Taxes?

Gary and Karen have spent 47 years together.

How should policymakers, state legislators, and others respond to the large taxpayer costs of family fragmentation? We note that even very small increases in stable marriage rates as a result of government programs or community efforts to strengthen marriage would result in very large savings for taxpayers. If the federal marriage initiative, for example, succeeds in reducing family fragmentation by just 1 percent, U.S. taxpayers will save an estimated $1.1 billion each and every year.

We can contribute significantly to lower government costs and higher revenues from tax payers by starting a Pre-Marital Preparation Group at our church. We can also help the nation by strengthening family life, especially marriages.

We do not need most therapists but more caring Christians and Pastors who will see that preaching against divorce is half as effective as teaching couples practical way to enjoy their marriages.

Write your Congressman and tell him/her to raise the amount of money given to strengthen marriage and family life.

Women in Ministry

Support and Training for Wives in Ministry

Over the past 30 years we have ministered to dozens of ministers and their wives on issues of burn out, church conflict, dealing with aggressive members, gossip, rearing children, etc. Leading a ministry is perhaps the most daunting career in life. Now, help is on the way.

Steve Griebling, Family Therapist and international training expert, will provide four Mondays in November for “Survival Skills for Wives in Ministry”.

The sessions will be from 7:00-8:15 February 11, 18, 25 and March 3 at the Life Way Counseling Center Conference Room in Blue Ash. Directions after sign up.

The enrollment is limited to ten women so each person can receive personal attention.

Cost $20.00 per session

Topics
1. How to love people without taking their problems
2. How to minister to distressed minds without losing your own
3. Boundaries as a Minister’s wife
4. Leisure, fun and be relaxation
5. Developing a support system that you can trust
6.

Each attendee will get a copy of Dr. Gary Sweeten’s DVD on the importance of becoming a “Committed Couple”. It can be used as a guide for personal growth or teaching small groups or classes. For questions, contact Steve @ 984-827 or stevegriebling@hotmail.com

Steve is a Senior Trainer with Sweeten Life Systems who has extensive experience around the world.

How Did It Help You?

I just received a letter from Beech Acres Parenting Center asking for testimonies. They want to know if any of your students have benefited from their training.

One of the hallmarks of good teachers is a feedback system that tries to discern what is working. That leads to this mantra:

If it works, do more of it.

If it does not work, stop it.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I hope our teaching and training couples how to minister to others works. But, if it did not we want to fix it. We need your feedback and feed forward to do better the next time.

Send your comments to me. Dr. Gary Sweeten gsweeten@cinci.rr.com

More Workshops

Beech acres Center for Families and Children are interested in sponsoring more couples' worshops. I want to know if any of you are interested in more free workshops.

Just write your comments on this blog send an email to me

gsweeten@cinci.rr.com

Two Workshops Completed

June 2 and June 9 saw a bunch of us gather at Love and Faith Christian Center and go over some of the key dimensions of developing Committed Couples. We had a great time and it appears that we will get to do at least two more before October 1 when the 2007 Federal Grant runs out.

We will follow up with all the participants and send each of you a DVD of the teachings. In retrospect, I wish we had also taped the discussions when so many of our students had great questions.

I have the following ideas about how to raise up more good people to lead you church's ministries in marriage and family life.

1. Start small and grow slowly. Do not bite off too much for you to chew. Work with a few people and see them grow. Testimonies are the best advertisements.

2. Start with couples who are not in a crisis. Build up the stable marriages and help them stay stable and get stronger. You who attended our training will remember that I have Seven levels of need for training and support by church leaders.

a. Prevention: Teach people how to prevent serious problems and deal with various crises.
b. Personal Growth: Give people who are presently doing well the skills to do better. One of the ideas that came out of the YMCA research I have on my web site is the notion that people need to be affirmed for doing well. (See www.garysweeten.com )
c. Peer Support: People talk about their issues, problems and needs to family and friends so the church can provide many people to be positive peers to people in need.
d. Para-Professional Helpers: These are folks who have bee trained to be Mentors, Coaches, Teachers, Helpers and Group Leaders the groups above. They are Para-Professional in that they work along side the Professionals as Lay Volunteers. Refer all seriously disturbed couples to the people below.
e. Professional Helpers; New credentialed Counselors and Social Workers.
f. Professional Clinical Helpers: Independent Licensed Counselors, Social Workers, Psychiatrists and Psychologists.
g. Professional Experts: Advanced in Marriage and Family Therapy

Thanks to Love and Faith Christian Center

There are some churches and church leaders who really, "GET IT!" Pastors Dale and Cathi Campfield are two of the most creative and in touch leaders in Greater Cincinnati. Not only do they create and maintain a dynamic church in Clermont County they have developed a passion to serve others throughout the community.

If you go to their church web site you will see the wide variety of programs and ministries Love and Faith Christian Center sponsor each month, but that is not half the total of the ways they serve God and their neighbors in our region. (See their link at the bottom of the page.)

Because of Pastor Dale and Pastor Cathi and the staff at Love and Faith we are able to hold our first Committed Couples' seminars on June 2 and June 9 at a reasonable cost. Love and Faith Center will not only host us but have volunteered to video tape it free of charge. This is real agape love arising out of their compassion and desire to promote marriage and family health for all people.

Some people talk the walk and others walk their talk. Love and Faith Center put their talk into action with humility and concern for the people in Greater Cincinnati.

Hamilton County Grant

The couples of Hamilton County are going to be blessed like those in Clermont County, Ohio. The State of Ohio has released monies for Life Way Ministries, Inc to equip leaders, mostly couples, from some twenty churches and faith based groups to expand their work of encouraging couples to marry and develop stable partnerships.

There will be an Organizational Pre-Meeting for representatives on Thursday morning, May 17 at 10:30 to discuss and explain the requirements for participating in the two workshops. This meeting will be held at the Kenwood Baptist Church on Kenwood Road just north of the Kenwood Centre.

Interested in the two workshops on June 2 and June 9? Then contact us:

Ron Peake, 513-260-0877, rpeake@cinci.rr.com
Dr. Gary Sweeten, 513-300-5065, gsweeten@cinci.rr.com
Kenwood Baptist Church is located at 8341 Kenwood Rd, enter at the north entrance.
<http://www.kenwoodbaptist.com/About%20Us/Directions2.html>
http://www.kenwoodbaptist.org