Community Marriage Agreement

FAMCO
Family & Marriage Coalition of Aiken, Inc.
Saving Marriages Saves Communities

The Community Marriage Agreement is a document signed by community leaders that establishes a minimum set of expectations which have been shown to contribute to successful marriages.

On April 14, 2006 Aiken Mayor Fred Cavanaugh signed the Aiken Community Marriage Agreement. There are now 203 communities across the United States that have signed a document similar to the Aiken Community Marriage Agreement. Cities and communities which have established a community marriage agreement or policy have subsequently demonstrated a significant improvement in the success rate of marriages and families. This has been accompanied by a drop in delinquency rates and other indicators of troubled communities.

Mayor Fred Cavanaugh signs CMA

Board of Directors

- Kay Brohl, South Carolina State Ethics Commission

- Fred Cavanaugh, Mayor, Aiken

- Willar Hightower, Aiken County Council Member

- Bill Jefferson, Pastor, Full Gospel Praise and Deliverance Center, Aiken

- Roger LeDuc, Aiken City Manager

- Elizabeth Morris, Youth Learning Advocate, Clemson University Youth Learning Institute

- Robert Murphy, Family and Marriage Counselor

- Mike Phillips, Pastor, New Covenant Presbyterian Church, Aiken

- Kathryn Wade, Field Representative, Congressman J. Gresham Barrett

- Cleve Walker, WAFJ Radio Announcer

            Aiken Community Marriage Agreement
Representing various faith-based, civic, and government organizations, we share a common concern regarding marriage.
We believe:
* Marriage between a man and a woman establishes the foundation for a healthy society.
* Society has an obligation to take appropriate and necessary actions to foster healthy marriages.
* Religious leaders have a particularly important responsibility in establishing and maintaining a high standard for marriage preparation, enrichment, restoration, and recovery, since the majority of weddings are performed by a faith-based organization.
Therefore, we will:
1. Encourage a courtship of at least one year.
2. Encourage a minimum of four months of marriage preparation with no less than   four counseling sessions involving:
    a. Premarital inventory;
    b. Finance;
    c. Communication and conflict resolution;
    d. Sex.
3. Encourage premarital chastity and non-cohabitation before marriage.
4. Encourage the utilization of couples with healthy marriages to mentor engaged couples and couples in troubled marriages.
5. Encourage and promote marriage enrichment opportunities designed to enhance existing marriages.
6. Encourage and promote programs for ministering to troubled marriages.
7. Encourage and promote support systems for stepfamilies.
8. Encourage and promote support systems for adults and children coming out of divorces.
9. Encourage and support cooperation among faith-based, civic, and government organizations to share resources and to create a positive climate in which all marriages are helped to succeed, and to promote continuing evaluation and improvement in our ability to help marriages succeed.
10. Implement this Agreement within our own organization to the best of our ability.