Training the Pastors of South Valley Community Church of Hollister and Gilroy, California, in Biblical Premarital Counseling

Abstract

This project explores the importance of biblical premarital counseling offered by trained Christian pastors. The study of biblical and theological material related to marriage, combined with historical information on the Puritan movement, led to the development of a training curriculum for premarital counseling. The pastors of South Valley Community Church of Hollister and Gilroy, California, were trained to use the developed curriculum through a one-day workshop. Using pre- and post-workshop survey data provided by the participants, the results indicate that the pastors increased their perceived knowledge of premarital counseling. The findings suggest that pastors benefit from receiving training in premarital counseling.