Premarital Counseling

Our Welcoming Marriage program is available to couples who are being married here at RHUMC, who are being married by our pastor at another site, or to other engaged couples with the consent of our pastor. The purpose of Welcoming Marriage is to encourage engaged couples to begin a dialogue with each other about their shared experiences, their similarities, differences, and their expectations of marriage and of each other. It is a dialogue that we hope will last a lifetime.

The first part of the program consists of an online assessment inventory that both members of the couple complete at home, as well as temperament & personality tests. Couples print out and score their own test results. Again, the purpose of the testing is to stimulate discussion and reflection. There are no “right” or “wrong” answers. Next, couples read Dr. John Gottman’s research-based book “The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work.”

Finally, couples meet with either our Director of Family Ministries or our Associate Pastor and have a chance to discuss their response both to the test results and to the "Seven Principles." Couples may share as much or as little of their testing results as they choose. Couples may schedule up to three one-hour sessions over a period of several months. For those who would find additional counseling helpful, professional referrals are available.

For more information about Premarital Counseling, please call 377-6771 ext. 105 or 104 or email familyministries@rhumc.org