Fall Festival of Marriage proves to strengthen relationship in marriages

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (BP) — Five years ago Blackwelder Park Baptist Church here began giving Fall Festival of Marriage scholarships as wedding gifts to strengthen marriages in the congregation.

“What we knew was that going to the Fall Festival of Marriage has an addictive effect. If we can get them there one time, there’s a great chance they’ll want to go back,” Stan Welch said. He and his wife of 27 years, Melody, attend the conference annually at LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center amidst the spectacular fall foliage in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Fall Festival of Marriage is a Christ-centered enrichment weekend sponsored by LifeWay Christian Resources. Events are held at 12 locations throughout the country, packed with workshops to help couples focus on their relationship with God and with each other.

While it was a bold move to add the marriage conference expense (usually about $350 per couple, including lodging and meals) to the numerous missions supported by the 900-member church, Welch went even further and offered to pay half the tuition for any couple in the congregation – whether married five years or 50 – who had never attended.

For more information on the Fall Festival of Marriage, go to www.lifeway.com and click on “Events” or call Ridgecrest Conference Center at 1(800) 588-7222.