Marriage Ministry Matters

Why does “doing it right” from the beginning matter in marriage? How can we help couples at PCPC establish their marriages in the gospel and in deeply rooted community? We sat down with Tommy Overton, Pastor of Marriage at Park Cities Presbyterian Church (PCPC), to talk about these important marriage-related topics for this month’s issue of PCPC News.

Did you know that people come from all over Dallas to attend PCPC’s premarital class called UNION? While it may fall under the radar of those not about to walk down the aisle, UNION is actually a big outreach ministry at PCPC. Many young couples find PCPC by simply Googling “premarital counseling near me.” They find our website and then sign up! “What a great opportunity we have to love them and get them involved in the church,” said Tommy. UNION classes are not all PCPC members; in fact, many UNION attendees are people who don’t have a church home. PCPC’s Marriage Ministry staff desires for couples, after they complete the UNION class, to stay and grow in Christ together. This ties into the purpose of PCPC’s Marriage Ministry to proclaim the gospel, encouraging men and women to sustain and nourish their marriage through Christ and His Word.

“We hope that couples don’t just ‘do UNION’ in order to get married, but that they ‘do UNION’ to get into community as a married couple. When a couple makes that hop after they get married into one of our Foundation Groups, it’s truly life-saving and life-giving. We’ve seen PCPC community come around people during difficult seasons of marriage and extend Christ’s love to them. In those cases, there are too many people who are loving on them and who are for them to let their marriage fail,” said Tommy.

How can couples do that, and why does it matter? PCPC members Jacqueline and Philip Carson, currently on the leadership team of the Cornerstone Sunday Morning Community (SMC), shared their experience with us as an example:

How did you get involved with PCPC Marriage Ministry?

“Since we met at PCPC, we both had a community at the church. So, when we got married, it was a pretty natural shift for us to be involved in PCPC marriage ministry. For others new to PCPC, I think UNION, Foundation Groups, and Cornerstone are great places to start since they’re established ministries. We also really enjoyed re|engage! Using any of these ministries as a starting point is the perfect entry. From there, it’s just important to seek other couples, both in a similar life stage and older/wiser, to continue growing in community in a way that works for your family.

We also hosted a small group in our home on Sunday evenings for a couple of years. We started with zero kids in the group and, by the end, there were eight babies, which made it challenging to continue on Sunday evenings. However, this was also a catalyst for the Cornerstone SMC and a place for us to grow deeper in community at PCPC.”

How does being involved in community within the body of Christ equip and establish you in your marriage?

“Being in community with others in the same life stage has been a huge blessing for us. We’re able to learn from other couples what to do or what not to do and identify areas of opportunity in our marriage by hearing how others are investing in their marriages. This stage of early-ish marriage and parenting littles is humbling and refining. It’s so encouraging to know we aren’t alone and to be encouraged and encourage others with biblical truths.”

What would you say to someone on the fringe who wants to get involved?

“Visit the Cornerstone SMC on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m.! Cornerstone is home to 20 or so young marrieds on any given Sunday morning which is so special. It’s not always the same people every week, given the busy season of life we’re all in, with travels, babies, and so on. We have new couples attend probably once a month, so it’s a very welcoming atmosphere to meet others. Since we talk through the sermon questions from the previous week, you aren’t jumping in mid-study either.”

By God’s faithfulness, there are many other stories like Jacqueline and Philip’s within our congregation. The Lord is at work through His design for marriage!

We hope you will join us this fall in PCPC’s Marriage Ministry. Opportunities will include UNION (marriage preparation class), Foundation Groups (newly married couples 1-3 years), and Cornerstone (Sunday Morning Community for newly married couples in their 20s and 30s). Other marriage enrichment programs or events will be posted on the website this fall.