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The Pastor As A Counselor: Premarital And Marital, Ronald C. Notbohm

Western Evangelical Seminary Theses

In the United States in 1965, 1,789,000 marriages were performed. In the same year there were 481,000 divorces granted. In addition, less than five out of ten Americans consider their marriage "very happy." And over half of the Americans who did consider themselves to be very happily married felt inadequate as wives or husbands. It is important to notice that since most of those planning on marriage go to the pastor to,perform the ceremony and ask for guidance, many families having marital problems go first to their pastor for help. Dr. Wayne E. Oates has said:

The pastor, regardless of …