Cohabiting Couples and Cold Feet

Book excerpt: Clergy today are faced with a profound shift in American attitudes about marriage that affects the role they play with each couple. Our society at large today has strikingly different attitudes from those of just fifty years ago. Couples today are more likely to have cohabited before marriage, more likely to have children born out of wedlock, more likely to be married outside of the church, and more likely to be previously divorced than were their counterparts of the mid-20th century. This new pastoral resource, grounded in real-life examples, will be an important new pastoral tool for clergy and seminarians in the Episcopal Church and other mainline Protestant churches. It is organized chronologically, beginning with how to engage the couple making a first-time contact with a member of the clergy. It next unpacks the marriage rite itself, within contemporary and traditional viewpoints. Finally, the book addresses the critically important application of long-term support for the couple throughout their married lives.