A closer look at one of the marriage Comission Target Cities: Gastonia, North Carolina
Bill Seabrook is the Director of First Things First of Gaston County, NC. This organization came together in 2004 and continues to gain momentum. Since Bill has lived in Gastonia for over 40 years, he used his extensive relational network to begin creating awareness about family and marriage issues. He currently has a board of 18 advisors which represents several different faith communities as well as the African-American community. Bill has networked with members of the clergy, education, foundations, and businesses. He is building a broad support base for the work of First Things First of Gaston County (FTF-GC). For 2006, FTF-GC has several goals. These include:
Getting 100 signatures from clergy on Gastonia’s Community Marriage Covenant (To date, 31 pastors have signed.)
Holding four premarital workshop weekends where engaged and newlywed couples can learn about communication, shared vision, money, health, and sexuality and intimacy (The first of these weekends will be on January 20-22.)
Developing a marriage mentor program and recruiting mentors and couples
Completing the process of becoming a 501(c)3 and recruiting volunteers
Promoting involvement in the national marriage movement by attending Smart Marriages
Taking a group to the Association of Marriage and Family Ministries Conference in Charlotte, NC in April (This is a great opportunity to be trained by the best close to home!)
Bill had a great idea about how to target couples for the premarital weekend training. He has recruited a local nun to make a list of all the engagements and weddings listed in the town's Sunday paper. Someone will then find their addresses and the couples will be invited to attend the premarital training! This is a great way to offer marriage education to those who need it right now. Bill is also working on how to measure the progress of Gastonia’s healthy marriage initiative. He is recruiting members of the Board to investigate possible methods for evaluating various measures of community family health.
