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| You are here: Home > News |
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| Announcing
a New Initiative
for |
| National
Marriage Week
USA—February
7 to 14, 2010 |
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| To
encourage marriage,
reduce divorce
rates, curtail
poverty, and
benefit children. |
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NEW
YORK, NY. National Marriage Week
USA (www.nationalmarriageweekUSA.org)
announces a new initiative for
the week leading up to Valentine’s
Day 2010, and is putting forth
a call to mobilize hundreds of
diverse organizations to plan
and prepare for awareness and
activities for February 7 to 14,
2010. The goal is to elevate national
attention on the need to strengthen
marriage and ways to do it, and
initiate new efforts to reduce
the divorce rate and build a stronger
marriage culture which in turn
helps curtail poverty and benefits
children.
National Marriage Week has long
been an organized celebration
in the UK, Germany, Ireland, Australia,
the Czech Republic, and elsewhere
internationally (www.marriage-weekinternational.org)
with large rallies, resolutions
and celebrations in Parliaments,
concerted efforts for marriage
education, and more. Marriage
Week was brought to the U.S. by
Smart Marriages in 2002. For 2010
a new initiative is being launched
by National Marriage Week USA
(NMWUSA) in an effort to focus
solely on February 7 to 14 with
an interactive website and coordination
of national efforts at www.NationalMarriageWeekUSA.org.
Chuck Stetson, chairman of National
Marriage Week USA says “The
alarming drop in marriage rates
in America combined with high
divorce rates are costly to the
nation—financially costly
to taxpayers and individuals,
and emotionally costly to children.
The nation needs to pay attention.”
“Marriage works,”
says NMWUSA executive director
Sheila Weber. “Research
shows that marriage makes people
happier, live longer, and build
more economic security. Children
with married parents perform better
in school. There are proven ways
to repair and restore marriages—but
most folks don’t know where
to go to get the help they need.”
Alarming new facts are in. A new
Marriage Index, released jointly
by the National Center on African
American Marriages and Parenting
(NCAAMP) and the Institute for
American Values in October 2009,
reveals a huge decline in national
marriage indicators. One indicator
shows 78 percent of adults were
married in 1970, while only 57
percent of adults were married
in 2008. Another indicator shows
40 percent of all children in
America are now born out of wedlock
in 2008; and 72 percent of African
American children are now born
without married parents.
“I am excited about the
efforts of National Marriage Week
USA to pull together business,
government, and religious organizations
to draw attention to solutions
to the current problems created
by divorce,” said marriage
expert Gary Chapman, best-selling
author of “Five Love
Languages.” “If
we can help couples learn how
to create loving, supportive marriages,
it will not only bring marital
satisfaction, but will enrich
the lives of children, and create
a more productive society. Every
couple can contribute to the solution.
It begins by reading books, attending
classes, and having productive
communication with your own spouse.
National Marriage Week USA offers
multiple resources to help you,”
said Chapman.
The “Let’s Strengthen
Marriage” Campaign in early
2010 held a global webinar for
pastors and leaders (www.marriagewebinar.org)
which is archived for continued
viewing. Participants are growing
daily. Posting of Events all around
the country is now growing at
http://www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org/events/
and you can “Read What Others
Are Doing” at http://www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org/testimony/.
Ways to get involved with National
Marriage Week USA include:
• Churches
are encouraged to launch new marriage
classes, sermon series, or host
a major weekend
marriage conference,
•
Clergy can form Community Marriage
Policies with all the clergy in
their town (cities with CMPs have
lowered divorce rates),
•
Mayoral or Statewide Proclamations
are available for National Marriage
Week USA,
•
Businesses can create and distribute
pocket-sized pamphlets on topics
such as “What is a Healthy
Marriage?”
•
Screenings of special marriage
education DVDs or marriage related
movies,
•
Use of the National Marriage Week
USA logo for local ads and activities,
•
Schools can sponsor assemblies
on healthy relationship skills.
•
Most importantly, folks are encouraged
to work on their own marriage—with
lots of ideas and
resources
for where to go for help at www.nationalmarriageweekUSA.org.
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