You can learn a lot about what a church is doing by viewing their website!
Congregations and pastoral teams spend countless hours planning, strategizing and implementing ideas to attract people into their church. Church websites feature creative graphics, sermon series titles that play off popular TV shows or movies, and ads for fun-filled, kid-centered events are meant to attract the unchurched.
You can also discover what opportunities and needs a church is not seeing by what they’re not promoting on their website.
Surprisingly, one of the most relevant and most widely supported ministries a church can offer is rarely featured on the church’s website. And if it does happen to be mentioned, it is not promoted very well. (See blog article “Churches: How NOT to Promote Your Premarital Program on the Internet” for more on this.)
I’m referring to the best outreach opportunity and congregational ministry a church can offer: premarital ministry (sometimes called pre-marriage education, marriage preparation or premarital counseling).
In the groundbreaking survey, State of California’s Unions: Marriage and Divorce in the Golden State (2008), two-thirds (65%) of non married adults said “they would attend pre-marital education classes.” And an astounding 70% of people agreed that “their local church or religious organization should do more pre-marital education.”
Check out my article that delves into similar findings from a national marriage survey, “Most Singles Yearn to be Married and Want Premarital Education”.
So if those inside and outside the church want more premarital education, it would make sense that churches do a better job of promoting this high-demand ministry on their website.
Over the last year or two, I have surveyed thousands of church websites. Purpose-Driven churches. Willow Creek Association churches. The largest churches, the fastest growing churches and the most innovative churches. Small churches, medium and large churches. Churches of all denominations and churches in every state. Consistently, very few promoted their premarital program well.
To help inspire you, below are a variety of effective and relevant premarital promotions on church websites. All of the churches below have one thing in common: they all use my book Before “I Do” for their marriage preparation program. But, they share something else: an ability to communicate their standards and offerings in a positive and appealing way.
(1) SEACOAST CHURCH – The Most Graphic Navigationals Through the Premarital Process
Seacoast Church is on the cutting edge when it comes to multi-site church services. Their website provides prospective couples with a graphic-heavy, step-by-step navigations for wedding services and premarital classes. Every word in the body of the text counts. The result? Couples can quickly and easily get the information they’re looking for, and Seacoast gets to minister to more couples. Win-Win!
(2) CANYON RIDGE CHRISTIAN CHURCH – Choices Help Couples Choose Wisely
Canyon Ridge Christian Church gives couples all kinds of choices on weddings: small, medium or large sized. Regardless of how big the ceremony, couples get (and pay for) premarital counseling. And even if a couple doesn’t want a wedding performed by or at Canyon Ridge Christian Church, they can access the premarital program (for a small fee). In the Wedding Capital of the U.S., Las Vegas area couples are choosing Canyon Ridge Christian Church’s premarital program.
(3) LOVE INTERNATIONAL MINISTRY – Devoting a Whole Site to the Ministry
Love International Ministries is so committed to marriage and pre-marriage ministry that they have dedicated an entire site to the classes, resources and trainings available to couples. Branding the marriage ministry at a church shows this congregation’s dedication and commitment to help couples thrive in their marriage covenant.
(4) GINGHAMSBURG CHURCH – Sometimes Simpler is Better
Ginghamsburg Church has a very popular premarital program that serves many couples each year. The process for premarital and weddings at Ginghamsburg Church are clearly and positively articulated on the website:
“We celebrate you and your decision to enter the lifelong commitment expressed through the covenant of marriage! We are committed to assisting Ginghamsburg couples in preparing for your special day and your lifetime together.
Marriage preparation at Ginghamsburg Church involves commitment by the couple to spiritual and relational development as well as actual wedding preparations. We will guide you through a process that consists of assessments and mentoring by a trained couple from Ginghamsburg’s Marriage Preparation Ministry.”
There is no doubt that Tipp City area engaged couples know what they can expect to get from Ginghamsburg Church.
(5) FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH WOODSTOCK – Graphic Button Says It All
First Baptist Church Woodstock details their premarital process on their website. But one part of their website caught my eye. They are the only site I remember that has a graphic button that acts as a stand alone promotional. The only thing that would have been better is for the graphic to have been placed on the home page for the church site. Either way, it is an idea that could and should be copied, I mean, inspire you. 
(6) DOGWOOD CHURCH – Simplify the Steps in the Process
Dogwood Church has a thorough and well-thoughtout premarital process that can be simplified into five easy-to-read bullet points. While describing the details of the Five-W’s behind the steps to get married and marriage prep at the church is important, making it digestable for couples is equally important. If a church can’t simplify its premarital process into 5-7 bullet points, it is too complicated.
(7) THE LIFE CHURCH OF MEMPHIS – Motivating Couples To the Finish Line
The Life Church of Memphis has laced motivation with the necessary information on its premarital web page, resulting in an easy-to-read, step-by-step process that couples can quickly navigate through.
(8) CENTRAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF EAST VALLEY – Relating With Where Couples Are At
Central Christian Church of East Valley connects with where couples are at, empathizes with their feelings and helps them see the value in Central Christian Church’s premarital services.
“We share in your happiness as you formulate your wedding plans and begin the wonderful adventure of marriage. We are anxious to serve you and desire for you to experience the joy and intimacy God designed for marriage.
As you begin to read this, you may be overwhelmed by the amount of information presented. You may also be surprised by the expectations we hold of couples we marry. We do this in light of our desire for you…a desire that your wedding and marriage would honor God as well as each other.”
By relating with an engaged couple’s reality, Central Christian Church opens the door of their church to many couples looking to prepare for marriage.
Well, there you have it. Eight churches promoting their premarital services online…and doing it well! Hopefully, your church can follow their example and make your premarital offerings more visible on the church’s website. How else will engaged couples who don’t attend your church but want what you have to offer find you?
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K. Jason Krafsky is the author of Before “I Do” – Preparing for the Full Marriage Experience (Turn the Tide Resource Group – www.FullMarriageExperience.com). As a marriage junkie, Jason supports his habit by training leaders on marriage issues, writing articles and books on marriage and family relationships, coaching communities, churches, and ministries on marriage strengthening strategies, and teaching couples about relationship issues (check out his blog at www.MarriageJunkie.com). Jason’s ultimate fix comes from his wife Kelli. They live in the foothills of Washington’s Cascade Mountains with their four children. Contact him at kjasonk@fullmarriageexperience.com, Facebook or on Twitter (@marriagejunkie).
Copyright © 2009 by K. Jason Krafsky – Permission granted to use and reproduce with proper source citation.
Ramblings of a Marriage Junkie is the regular fix for those committed to reviving marriage & reducing divorce … in their own home and in their own community!
Buying our first house. You get all of the credit! From initiating the call to discover what it would take to buy a house to finding the house…we are homeowners because of you. Then when we got the house, you made it into a welcoming and inviting home! Thanks for gently persisting and allowing me the time to process. It all worked out so well and seemed so perfectly timed.
Looking forward to the next phase of serving God with you. I can’t believe nearly 5,500 days have gone by since we said “I do”. And yet, so much has happened. Through all of it, I can honestly say that I love you more today than I ever have. And as we step through the doorway of our 15th year as husband and wife, hands clasped together and eyes pointed heavenward…I feel like we have only just begun to experience all God has in store for us. Whatever it may be, I walk with confidence because you are by my side. I love you and will love you, always!
Twitter is another online social network exploding into the mainstream! 
The world of online wedding planning is a $50-billion a year industry. That kind of cash means there are A LOT of brides spending countless hours on the internet searching for dresses, flowers, invitations and honeymoon destinations. And they’re exchanging tips and stress points on sites like 
Facebook
May 7, 2010
Five Common Facebooking Issues Creating Marital Strife
Posted by marriagejunkie under church leadership, counselors, Facebook, marriage advice, Marriage Junkie, married couples, pastors, Social Media, trends | Tags: arguments, Comments, Facebook and Your Marriage, Facebook Friends, Updates |[2] Comments
After recently talking with a number of counselors and clergy about common marriage problems they’re dealing with, Facebook should be added to that list. In fact, Facebook is one of the most popular relationship conflicts for today’s married couples.
Why would that be? With over 400-million users, Facebook has become the preferred communication vehicle for connecting with friends and family, and has quickly integrated into the daily routines of adults of all ages. And in its wake, many spouses are grappling to keep up with their feelings towards their mates’ rate of reconnected relationships, degrees of convenience connecting to the online social network, and their level of devotion to the website.
In fact, based off the research for our book, Facebook and Your Marriage (which included personal interviews with Facebookers, conversations with therapists, surveying many blogs and websites, and reading the dozens and dozens of comments from our various blog articles on Facebook) we’ve discovered that when a spouse says “Facebook is an issue in my marriage,” it is a general cry for help without an understanding of what the real problem is.
They mistakenly blame the website when it is most likely one of these five common Facebooking issues.
Read the common Facebooking issues creating marital strife at our NEW blog (techlationships.com) >>
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K. Jason and Kelli Krafsky are “The Social Media Couple” who speak, teach and write on all things technology and relationships. Their hope is to empower couples, parents and families to use common sense and healthy boundaries in this social media age. Jason and Kelli wrote Facebook and Your Marriage (2010), the first book ever written on the topic, and have written extensively on how couples, parents and families can survive and thrive using technology. The Krafskys have been married since 1994 and live just outside of Seattle with their four children. Contact them at the SocialMediaCouple.com website, techlationships.com blog, via email at info@techlationships.com, on Twitter (@techlationships) or through Facebook (Social Media Couple).
Copyright © 2010 K. Jason Krafsky – Permission granted to use and reproduce with proper source citation.