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CLASSROOM
PROGRAM
Right Start
provides specific instruction through ten
classroom sessions taught by presenters drawn from the church or the Christian
community. However, since the percentage of new cognitive information
that students retain and apply from lectures is so small, additional preparation
prior to the presentations is required, through Bible studies, workbooks, and
other assigned homework. Raising the issues in this manner creates a thirst for
instruction and assistance, making the classroom presentations even more
effective in clarifying issues and encouraging the couples in their self-study. This provides feedback on the effectiveness of the presentation and
encourages the couples to take—and study—their notes.
ESTABLISHING A CLASSROOM PROGRAM
In the case of churches or organizations of moderate size,
where the number of weddings each year makes the time commitment involved in
individual counseling unrealistic for pastors, Right Start material can be used
to train mentors to work with the couples. To begin, we suggest that the pastor
or elder coordinator overseeing the program conduct a ten-week term for the
mentors-in-training, teaching the supplied classroom presentation material
himself. The mentors-in-training should do all the couple assignments, discuss
the written work in class, and be trained in presenting the results of the Taylor-Johnson
Temperament Analysis (T-JTA).
In private, the pastor or elder will present their T-JTA results to each
mentors-in-training couple, in the same manner as they are to go over these
results with their assigned premarital couples when the program is ongoing.
If the mentors-in-training have had previous mentoring or
counseling experience, it is possible to start a Right Start program by having
them attend the same classes as the first group of premarital couples. They will
need to complete their own work before they meet with a premarital couple to
discuss the same material. They will be assisted by the Right Start Mentors’
Manual, which has both guidance for mentoring and masters of all instruments used in the
program.
After the initial group of mentors is trained, a
Right Start
term may be conducted, with the pastor or elder giving the first two
presentations. Couples who have experience in the other subject areas should be
recruited from the congregation for the remaining eight presentations. Often the
mentor couples themselves are the best class session presenters. Brief outlines
for each of the ten presentations are in the Student Notebook. A full
text version of each presentation is supplied in the Mentors’ Manual.
These provide the content for the mentors and serve as examples for presenters.
Presenters may adapt these presentations to their personal style while still
delivering the content indicated in the student outlines.
In a large church, the supervising pastor or elder should
train coordinators to conduct the entire program. Additional mentors can be
trained and mentored through participation in the ongoing Right Start program.
This approach has been used very effectively in churches to increase or maintain
their supply of mentors. The mentors’ personal experience of working through the
same materials as their couples is essential in their preparation. The
opportunities to minister together in a program of this quality (which most did
not have access to when they were engaged), and to invigorate their own marriage
commitment, are effective recruiting inducements. This process also gives the
pastor or coordinators the opportunity to evaluate mentors-in-training as to
their future effectiveness as mentors.
The cost of the program to the church can be minimized.
Charging a fee will convey a sense of its value. Couples should be asked to bear
the cost of their Notebooks, supplies used in the program, and the
manuals supplied to the mentors. The start-up cost of Mentors’ Manuals
can be spread over a period of several years.
COUPLE’S TYPICAL EXPERIENCE
The following description of a typical
couple’s experience
will be helpful in explaining the scope of the Right Start classroom program.
Usually the first step is that the man or woman calls the church office,
requesting the church for their wedding, or asking the pastor to perform the
ceremony. The caller is referred to the Right Start coordinator who briefly
interviews him or her to determine whether the couple meets the church’s
requirements for registration. If appropriate, they are given registration
materials, to be completed at least several weeks before the next Right Start
term begins. These include information on Right Start, church policies, Background
Questionnaires, and the Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis (T-JTA).
If either party was previously married, a specific form documents the causes of
the divorce, any church disciplinary action, and eligibility for remarriage.
After returning the registration materials, the couple is asked to listen to a
set of marriage preparation tapes and to begin work in the course text. At the
first class, the couple is given a Right Start Student Notebook.
The Right Start term consists of ten classroom sessions that
cover the important aspects of marriage. Each class begins with a test on the
previous session’s content and the week’s homework, and ends with an
exercise designed to reveal the couple’s knowledge of each other and the
degree of shared values and goals. During the term, the concurrent classroom
tests and exercises and homework are assembled into four sets, which are
conveyed to the couple’s mentors well in advance of each appointment. Mentors
for each couple are chosen by a prayerful, careful match to the couple’s personalities,
specific needs, and situation. The mentors are prepared with copies of the Backgrounds,
the interpretation of the couple’s T-JTA results, and any other
assistance necessary. There are at least four mentoring meetings prior to the
wedding, beginning about week three of the term, and ending shortly before the
wedding. Directions for these mentoring appointments and the use of all the
written work and tests is given in detail in the Right Start Mentors’
Manual.
At a certain point, depending on the circumstances (as soon
as possible, or after the mentoring is well underway, or at some point after the
term is over), the couple will have an interview with the pastor to obtain his
permission for their specific wedding date. This method is the only access to
reserving the church. It allows the church to adhere to its stated standards
for eligibility for marriage, and protects the pastor. Before this interview,
the pastor has the benefit of reading copies of the couple’s Backgrounds,
the results of the T-JTA, the Mentors’ Reports on the couple’s
progress, and the coordinator’s recommendations.
The last mentoring appointment, usually just before the
wedding, concerns the couple’s physical relationship in marriage. The couple
prepares by reading together Dr. Ed Wheat’s book, The First Years of
Forever, listening to his two-tape set, Before The Wedding Night, and
taking the Sexual Attitudes and Understanding Test (SAUT). The SAUT
is computer-scored so the mentors can use the printout as the basis of most of
the discussion. Six to eight weeks after the wedding, the mentors meet with the
couple for a follow-up appointment.
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