These guidelines, established by our Elder Board, apply both to the involvement of our pastors in a wedding and the use of our church facilities. They are intended to help our pastoral staff make some of the difficult decisions that may arise.

For those anticipating marriage
• Both individuals must be Christians and actively involved in a church.
• The couple should have had no less than a one-year dating
relationship, including engagement.
• The couple must go through premarital counseling with one of our
pastors or an approved counselor.
• The premarital counseling should begin no less than six months
before the wedding date to provide sufficient time for the
couple to deal with any relevant issues.
• Our expectation is that sexual intimacy will not be part of the
relationship until the couple is married.  Entering the
counseling process is considered an agreement that this
expectation is accepted from this point on.

For those who have also suffered divorce
We believe the Bible allows for remarriage of divorced individuals only if one or more of the following is true:
1.  The divorce was due to persistent, unrepentant sexual sin on the part of your ex-spouse
2.  Your ex-spouse has remarried
3.  Your ex-spouse was not a Christian and abandoned you for religious reasons
4.  Your marriage partner has died.

• There should be no dating at all before the divorce is final, even if
divorce papers have been filed. (Dating is defined as
spending significant time together alone.)
• We recommend one year without dating following divorce so that
the individual becomes fully grounded in singleness and
establishes contentment in his or her walk with God.
• Our pastors will not participate in remarriage if both individuals are
not biblically eligible for marriage.
• Our pastors discourage any remarriage (except to the former
spouse) that occurs less than one year from the date the
divorce is final.
• Our pastors will not participate in remarriage unless the individuals
have been through an approved divorce recovery program and
a course on blended families if there are minor children
involved. These courses are offered at First Free and at other
area churches.
• We highly recommend that the couple establish a relationship with
a mentoring couple who have been through divorce and
remarriage.