February Ministry Spotlight: Marriage Conference

The Couples Ministry at Mount Hope serves married couples from all different stages and walks of life. The focus is uniting, providing fellowship and support for married couples who attend the church, and who seek to honor God and their spouse through marriage. On Saturday, March 3rd Mount Hope Couples Ministry is pleased to offer a one day seminar called, “Marriage: The Continuing Tasks.” Pastor Dan Verrengia of Park Street Church, along with his wife Rosanna, will lead the seminar starting at 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. in the Sanctuary. Pastor Verrengia took some time away from his busy schedule to talk more about his role in ministry, and what he hopes couples will get out of attending this event.

Q: What is your background in ministry?
A: I have a Masters in Divinity from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, with more than 30 years experience in Pastoral Ministry. Currently I’m in my 11th year as the Minister of Pastoral Care at Park Street Church in Boston.


Q: What will you be talking about in March at the couples seminar?
A: “The marriage relationship is a gift-an entity in and of itself-that the husband and wife must cherish and nurture,” writes Walter Wangerin in As For Me and My House. Married couples in the early years, middle years, and empty nester years are invited to examine and understand some Biblical principles for the continuing tasks that go into nurturing a marriage throughout a lifetime. The discussion will focus on the six tasks of marriage as presented by Wangerin: truthfulness/dependability, sharing the work of survival, talking/listening, making love, healing, and gifting/volunteering.


Q: How did God give you a vision for this area ministry?
A: After seminary, when in my first pastorate, I realized that the areas of pastoral ministry I felt most suited to was in interpersonal ministry which primarily included counseling and teaching. It is in the area of ministry where didactic interactions, give and take dialogue, best utilized my personality and ministry gifts.


Q: What excites you the most about this area ministry?
A: When I have the privilege of experiencing firsthand individuals and couples growing in their understanding of self and their relationship with God and others.


Q: What relationship challenge or exercise do you have for MHCC couples as they prepare to hear you and your wife talk in March?
A: Honest evaluation of where they are as a married couple, i.e. areas of strength and areas where they need to grow.


Q: What do you want to say to those couples who know they need to come to this, but for a variety of reasons are hesitant to come?
A: If the hesitation is fear of what to expect, I assure couples that they are free to participate as much or as little as they are comfortable. If the hesitation is that couples feel there is nothing that needs fixing in their marriage, great. This is for them because this is for people whose marriages are basically good but who want to make them better. If the hesitation is that they have been married too long, great. This is for them because it is extremely encouraging and enlightening for younger couples to hear how older couples have seasoned the rough spots in their relationship, or for younger couples to have their problems normalized through the realization that there are some things all couples go through as part of the human condition. On the other hand, older couples often reinvigorate their marriage by discussing things that may have been put on the back burner for a long time. For the rest, even the best of marriages benefit from reminders of how precious the gift of marriage is and of how God intended our relationship to be.


If there are known problems in the marriage and they know they should be doing something about it, this is a good step toward addressing issues that are eroding the oneness and joy God intended for them. I have found that for some, this is a good first step and often the only step needed in getting their relationship back on track. For others, a seminar like this takes the mystery out of marriage counseling and therefore makes it easier for them to go for marriage counseling to get their marriages on track.

Past Spotlights:

April 2011 - People to People

May 2011 - Prison Ministries

June 2011 -- Nursing Home Ministry

July 2011 -- Married Couples Ministry

August 2011 -- Mount Hope Christian School

September 2011 -- Community Groups

October 2011 -- Global Outreach

November 2011 -- Refresh Women's Ministry

December 2011 -- Music Cafe @ Common Grounds

January 2012 -- Children's Ministry