The following are Web Site links and resource descriptions for those who are interested in marriage mentoring issues. We pray you will find these to be helpful.

• Real Relationship.com This is the web site for Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott who founded the Center for Relationship Development on the Campus of Seattle Pacific University. On their web site they have “Videos on Demand” on Marriage Mentoring and other subjects on marriage and family relationship. They also have great resources to help you with Marriage Mentoring and other relationship issues.

• Marriage mentoring can be as simple as finding a couple you respect and hearing their stories of married life. A neighbor, a family member or a church could be a great source for a mentor couple. If your church does not have a mentoring program, encourage your minister to contact 12Conversations.com to learn more about developing a marriage mentoring program.

RESOURCES ON MENTORING and To Use While Mentoring:

• The Complete Resource Kit for Marriage Mentoring: Everything You Need to Launch a Marriage Mentoring Program (Misc. Supplies) This kit, which is published by Zondervan www.zondervan.com, includes a ten-session Marriage Mentor Training and Recruiting DVD and 32-page Leader’s Guide, Marriage Mentor Training Manual for Husbands, Marriage Mentor Training Manual for Wives, hardcover edition of The Complete Guide to Marriage Mentoring, and softcover edition of 51 Creative Ideas for Marriage Mentors. All items except DVD-ROM are also sold separately.

• The Complete Guide to Marriage Mentoring: Connecting Couples to Build Better Marriages. In this book, which is published by Zondervan www.zondervan.com, Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott provide the complete guide to becoming a marriage mentor. They instruct the individuals who guide couples in many different stages of married life through emphasizing working as a team, building rapport, walking in another couple’s shoes, and praying together. The book includes three major sections: The Big Picture on Marriage Mentoring, The Marriage Mentoring Triad, and The Essential Skills for Marriage Mentoring, to help churches of any size provide a healthy marriage mentoring program. It contains practical guidelines help mentors and couples work together as a team, agree on outcomes, and develop skills for the marriage mentoring process. Appendixes offer a wealth of additional resources and tools. An exhaustive resource for marriage mentorship in any church setting, this guide also includes insights from interviews with church leaders and marriage mentors from around the country.

• Marriage Mentor Training Manual for Husbands: A Ten-Session for Equipping Marriage Mentors. This book is designed by Drs Les and Leslie Parrott, two of today’s foremost marriage experts. It is published by Zondervan Publishing. This resource will train and equip you to help others weather the storms and build successful marriages. It’s a thorough, reassuring, and carefully designed approach for marriage mentoring. There is a companion manual for wives.

• Marriage Mentor Training Manual for Wives: A Ten-Session for Equipping Marriage Mentors. This book is designed by Drs Les and Leslie Parrott, two of today’s foremost marriage experts. It is published by Zondervan Publishing. This resource will train and equip you to help others weather the storms and build successful marriages. It’s a thorough, reassuring, and carefully designed approach for marriage mentoring. There is a companion manual for husbands.

• 51 Creative Ideas for Marriage Mentors: Connecting Couples to Build Better Marriages This book, published by Zondervan, offers an “idea box” of activities and innovative ways to deepen relationships between mentoring couples. It can be used in any of the three areas of the marriage mentoring triad: • Preparing—mentoring engaged and newlywed couples • Maximizing—mentoring couples from good to great • Restoring—mentoring couples in distress. There is also an entire section of ideas appropriate for mentoring any couple. With activities that vary from quickly implemented suggestions to more involved interactions, this easy-to-use reference will help alleviate the stress of couples overwhelmed by mentoring … and take experienced mentors to a whole new level.

• The Marriage Mentor Manual—How You Can Help the Newlywed Couple Stay Married -by Dr. Les and Dr Leslie Parrott, published by Zondervan Publishing House. This book shows couples how they can mentor newlyweds during their first year of marriage. It shows you how to find and establish mentoring relationships, how to be effective mentors and practice the art of active listening, when to refer a troubled couple to a professional counselor, and the boomerang effect of marriage mentoring.

• Apples of Gold —A Nurturing Program for Women -by Betty Huizenga, published by Cook Communications, Colorado Springs, CO 80918. This program is designed for mature women to mentor younger women through topical Bible studies based on Titus 2:3-5, cooking demonstrations and then sharing a meal together, and encouragement to be the women God’s called us to be.

• BEFORE “I DO” …Preparing for the Full Marriage Experience -by K. Jason Krafsky, published by Turn the Tide Resource Group, and can be ordered at their website at: www.FullmarriageExperience.com. This is an excellent Pre-marriage workbook which we HIGHLY recommend. We see it as an invaluable tool to help those who are considering marriage become much better prepared as it gives sound Biblical counsel and principles, integrates proven relationship insights and learn relationship fundamentals, and attain the skills to live the Full Marriage Experience. Couples benefit greatly by the topics covered, the issues raised, and the questions asked, which they’ve probably never discussed before. While the book is filled with useful information, it engages readers to interact with the material, and more importantly, their future mate. It also can be used with a “Marriage Investor” (clergy, small group leaders, marriage mentors, a seasoned married couple or counselor who acts as a pre-marital education facilitator). As they say, “meeting regularly with someone a little older and wiser will only enhance your pre-marital experience. They can provide perspective, accountability, and insights.” This is a GREAT resource!

• CALLED TOGETHER …Asks difficult questions couples must answer before and after they say “I do” -by Steve and Mary Prokopchak, published by House to House Publications. This workbook, designed for couple-to-couple mentoring or personal use, prepares couples for a successful, God-honoring marriage. It also addresses the challenges of remarriage, intercultural marriage and senior adult remarriage. Whether you’re considering marriage or remarriage or you counsel those who are, this book supplies down-to-earth advice and biblical wisdom on how to: be certain that God has called you together, combine future goals and coordinate a long-term marriage mission, interact constructively in verbal and nonverbal ways, view finances from a biblical perspective, relate sexually to your partner, plan a God-honoring ceremony; plus it includes post-marital checkups on communication, emotional needs, goal setting, budgeting and forgiveness.

• Homebuilders Marriage Study Series. These books are offered through the terrific ministry of Family Life Today and cover a variety of topics relevant to marriages. To obtain these books you can go to their web site at www.familylife.com. You can also view these books by clicking HERE.

• Marriage—Building Real Intimacy -by Bill Hybels, published by Zondervan. This excellent study guide will help you and your spouse to draw insight from one another and from the other couples in your group. As a matter of fact, it’s one of our very favorites! It’s a 6 week study designed to build the kind of close relationship you’ve always wanted. Whether you need to stabilize shaky foundations or just want to make a good marriage even better this study book will do that. It will help you to: Identify and get the most from you and your partner’s different personality traits using a brief, self-test. It will also help you to: Weed out common “romance busters” that drain the excitement from your marriage, resolve conflicts quicker using a simple 3-step peace process, and help prevent daily responsibilities from robbing you of real intimacy, and more. The chapter titles include: Session 1: Learning from History; Session 2: How are you Wired? Session 3: Planning for Peace; Session 4: Whatever Happened to Romance? Session 5: Fanning the Flames of Marriage; Session 6: Living in Crisis Mode.

• Mentoring —Confidence in Finding a Mentor and Becoming One -by Bobb Biehl, published by Broadman & Holman Publishers Nashville, TN. This book explains clearly and completely what mentors do and don’t do, the nature of the mentor/protégé relationship, the most common roadblocks to effective mentoring, and much more to help you succeed in being a mentor or finding one.

 Print This Page

 Email This Page