History

In April 1996, Judge James E. Sheridan attended the Marriage Summit at Concordia College in Ann Arbor, MI. Mike McManus was the featured speaker. The Judge heard McManus challenge the clergy with the fact that they do 75% of all first marriages, but with a divorce rate of 50%, that meant a minimum of one third of their marriages had failed. As diplomatically as he could, McManus told them that, in effect, they were acting as "suppliers" for the divorce mill. As a District Court Judge, who also performs weddings, Judge Sheridan could hardly escape the conclusion that he, too, had been acting as a "supplier", since he had done nothing to help couples have the tools for a successful marriage.

After the Summit, Sheridan formed a core group of clergy in Adrian to address the issue in Lenawee County. This core group evolved into the organization now known as Marriages That Work.

In February 1997, Marriages That Work invited Mike and Harriet McManus to cast their vision of Marriage Savers for Lenawee County. As a result 62 pastors of Lenawee County adopted the Lenawee County Community Marriage Policy™ (CMP), becoming the 55th community in the United States to do so. However, Marriages That Work was the first to involve civil officials as well as pastors to require serious marriage preparation. All five trial judges, four magistrates and four city mayors in the county agreed to a civil policy parallel to what the churches would be requiring. The involvement of both civil officials and the clergy received international attention and McManus observed that the Lenawee County program "has become a model for other communities to consider."

Since the adoption of the CMP in 1997, Marriages That Work has gone on to provide educational programs in Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (P.R.E.P.®) in local churches, making the program available to the public. In September 2005, Marriages That Work received a federal Compassion Capital Fund (CCF) Grant to study the effectiveness of its efforts and to provide an outcome-based measurement tool to determine its effectiveness. In 2006, Marriages That Work received a grant from McCullough, Vargas & Associates and in cooperation with the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Department to teach a pilot program, P.I.C.K. A Partner™, in the Lenawee County jail.

In 2006, Marriages That Work joined United Way of Jackson, Marriage Resource Center of Wayne County and the Michigan Family Forum to form the Michigan Healthy Marriage Coalition. The Coalition received a $1.1 million federal grant. Marriages That Work is now teaching P.R.E.P.®, Smart Steps for Stepfamilies and P.I.C.K. A Partner™ in the Lenawee County community and expanding the number of local schools offering Connections, an adolescent program including P.R.E.P. skills. Marriages That Work is also working on updating their Community Marriage Policy.