ABCnews reports on ministers refusing to marry prospective couples.
G. Jeffrey MacDonald writes (excerpt):
Among the signs of a raised bar is increased usage of premarital inventory tools among clergy who counsel couples. In 1993, just 100,000 couples took such tests measuring communication skills and compatibility in such areas as finances, sex, children, and religion. Today, about 800,000 use such an inventory, according to Michael McManus, founder of the national marriage strengthening project, Marriage Savers.
Since 10 percent of inventories come back with a “don’t proceed” message, 80,000 couples a year find their wedding plans facing a red light. Clergy seem increasingly willing to deliver the bad news, with hopes of preventing future disaster.
“You’re seeing more pastors saying no [to the couple wanting to marry] because the inventories suggest it,” McManus said. “Most churches have become wedding factories. Organized religion has some responsibility here that it has not borne.”
Although major inventories rely largely on a common set of criteria, not all pastors say no for the same reasons.