Consulting and Training Services

The Center for Relationship Enrichment offers consulting and training services to churches, Christian leaders and organizations in order to contribute to the effectiveness and health of personal and interpersonal ministries.

As part of our Church Initiative, we administer the CRE Ministry Needs Survey . The survey gives us detailed and specific information on the health and effectiveness of the relational ministries that are being offered to the church congregation and to determine interests and needs related to marriage and family relationships. This information is then given to the staff, pastors, elders, deacons and lay leaders.

We offer a consulting service that helps church leaders develop a three-year ministry plan designed specifically for your church. The goal of the consultation process is to help a church develop a comprehensive program for helping develop strong families and marriages with the context of the local church. CRE will assist a church in designing a comprehensive marriage ministry for a church including:

1. A biblical basis and theological foundation of marriage and family relationships —a theology of relationships.
2. Understanding of the unique role of the church in building and strengthening marriages and families. Some of the questions we will help you think through include: Why is marriage and family ministry so important? What unique role can the church play? What are the implications of the church not providing leadership in this area?
3. Participation in the Church Relationships Assessment (CRA) so that you can know what is and isn't working, what you could do more of and what you need to change or drop.
4. Development of a marriage and family ministry leadership teams. The leadership training must include lay people as well as church leaders and staff to assist in implementation.
5. Three year schedule of marriage and family ministry leadership training and related activities for the church and community.
6. Development of a year-by-year timetable for implementation that will include the use of several different methods, tools and the incorporation of existing programs.

Support and consultation is offered as the church implements the 3-year plan. Pastors across the nation have been consulted to determine the most effective relationship ministries, i.e., best practices. These best practices may include video tapes, training materials, books, CDs, and other ministry development materials that we recommended along with training by our staff. These ministry products and programs have been designed to expand the effectiveness and health relationships in the Church.

If interested in knowing more about the CRE Church Relationships Assessment, contact Dr. Greg Smalley at gsmalley@jbu.edu.