Prevention in family services : approaches to family wellness / edited by David R. Mace.
- Date:
- [1983], ©1983
Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Credit: Prevention in family services : approaches to family wellness / edited by David R. Mace. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![[210] FAMILY WELLNESS THROUGH CHURCHES you can, and to indulge in conspicuous consumption. The struggles brought on by inflation, unemployment, and recession in a world of hunger and scarcity may force churches to rethink this vital area of family ministry. At the same time churches must continue to help families meet their expressive needs; especially to develop those inner resources— knowledge, skills, attitudes—that contribute to interpersonal competence. Churches are concerned to help families learn and use the family processes that are necessary for good family functioning. Among these are open communication in sharing, listening, and responding; skills in acknowledging, expressing, and constructively using negative feelings such as guilt and anger; shared decision making that appreciates each person's worth and contribution to the process; affirmation and celebration of each member, and of the family as a unit; and having fun together. MINISTRIES IN MARRIAGE In their family ministries most churches have put so much emphasis on the parent-child relationship that they have neglected the husband- wife relationship. We need to reaffirm this as the primary family relationship. For the quality of the marriage (or the lack of it) provides the environment—the atmosphere or climate—of the entire family. Recognizing marriage as the foundation of the family calls for a reordering of our priorities in family ministry. This does not mean neglecting parent education, but it does mean putting a major emphasis on marriage—on preparing for marriage as well as on marriage enrich¬ ment and marriage counseling. What our churches need and are in a good position to develop is a full marriage program. This needs to begin in early childhood, helping each child to have a sense of self-worth and of being proud to be a boy or a girl, affirming the body as a good gift of God. It needs to move through all stages of boy-girl relations and include a thorough program of marriage preparation as part of a comprehensive marriage ministry throughout the family life cycle (Smith and Smith, 1982). Couples should be encouraged to see their pastor as soon as they are engaged, either formally or informally. They can be invited to join a marriage preparation group such as a premarital communication lab. Or they may become a part of a couples' sharing group in which two or three couples about to be married meet with an equal number of](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b18037604_0213.JP2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
