Mony Scott bounced his 1-year-old daughter, Isabella, in his arms as his wife, Angela, rubbed his back.

They had come out on a Friday night to work on their marriage. This is the third marriage for 36-year-old Mony and the second for Angela, 27. They've been married since August, and this time they want to get it right. Now practicing Christians, they hope their faith will make the difference.

The answer to a successful marriage is simple, the Rev. Mike Peterson told them, but maybe not easy. Spouses have to learn to love God and then model their marriage on that relationship.

Peterson, 42, is pastor of the 20-member One Flesh Covenant Ministries, based in an office building in Dublin. Peterson and his wife of 18 years, Lori, 43, have launched a crusade they hope will save 200 marriages in 2009.

It's called "10 Days at the Altar," a reference to both the altar of marriage and the altar of Christ. About 35 people attended a recent class, at least half of them without a significant other. Single people can learn about what it means to be married to God, Peterson said.

Peterson has written the curriculum for the 10-week program, which includes homework CDs. He plans to complete a session, take a couple of weeks off, and then start again with new couples.

He doesn't have training in marriage counseling, but he said he feels called to stop the tide of divorce.

The idea isn't new. Across the country, marriage ministries offer seminars and classes about how to revive dying unions.

In a recent session, Peterson told participants that they all must be "brides to Christ" -- both the men and women.

"I'm (6-foot-4), 220," he said, "but I'm a bride to Christ, in the spirit."

The Petersons are a tall, attractive couple with big smiles. She's matter-of-fact, and he's a teaser. He claps when he's preaching to punctuate a big point. Lori laughs at all his jokes.

He invoked some old-fashioned ideas of wifely duties to drive his point home. We must obey God. We must be faithful to him. We are his bride.

He urged the couples to make their households reflect their faith. Think of Jesus as the angry husband, he said, who doesn't want the mess of the physical world in his kingdom, or your house. That might mean obscene music or drugs or even allowing your children to date.

Mony said that in his last two marriages, he didn't fully understand the magnitude of the vows he took and later broke.

"It was important to me I'd make a commitment to myself," Mony said after the session.

Both he and Angela said they felt changed by their Christianity. Mony said he became more respectful and trustworthy. Angela started looking at her life and her past differently, seeing new purpose.

They've got faith in common now, and that's key, they said. Things are going well.

"The fire fizzles out after a while," Mony said. "You have to find something else that keeps you in a relationship."

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

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