Concern over rising divorce rates has led clergy in some cities to agree on policy standards for premarital counseling.
Since 1986, congregations in at least 67 communities around the country have signed a Community Marriage Policy. The ministers who sign it promise to require a four-month waiting period, a premarital inventory of beliefs and attitudes, and sessions on the most divisive issues. An estimated 75 percent of first marriages in the United States are performed by a clergy member.
The policy is the brainchild of Michael McManus, a syndicated columnist and president of Marriage Savers Inc. He and his wife, Harriet, have crusaded to strengthen marriages before they begin.
''On the one hand, it helps to avoid bad marriages,'' said Mr. McManus of Bethesda, Md. ''On the other hand, it helps couples who have good relationships to deepen them and develop conflict-
resolution skills.''
The program relies heavily on couples whose marriages are successful to impart wisdom and warnings to the betrothed. In Mr. McManus' church, 135 couples enrolled in a marriage preparation course between 1992 and 1996. Twenty-five decided not to get married; three separated during the first years of their marriage; and the rest are still together, he said.
''That's pretty close to marriage insurance,'' said Mr. McManus. ''This is what's possible by any church.''
Roughly half of all new marriages end in divorce, often within the first few years.
Clergy in Modesto, Calif., were the first to adopt the policy, and divorces there dropped by 40 percent, Mr. McManus said.
Congregations in Canton, Ohio, adopted the program in 1995. Divorces are down slightly - 1,973 last year, compared with 2,070 in 1993. Ministers have found it does take some work, and the procedures are apparently too much for some couples.
''I think I'm doing slightly fewer weddings than before,'' said the Rev. Erwin Smuda, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Canton. ''We get a lot of requests off the street. When I get them now, they tend to not call back.''
