Preparing for Your Marriage

Nearly thirty years after publication, few books come close to capturing the essence of Christian marriage better than PREPARING FOR YOUR MARRIAGE by William McRae. Knowing that preparation is a key element in a successful marriage, this book is one of the best anywhere at preparing a couple for marriage. The twenty six chapters are broken into four parts; The Criteria for Marriage, The Christian Marriage, Before Your Marriage and Your Wedding and After. McRae teaches marriage strictly from a theological standpoint. If a couple is devoted to building a Christian, God focused marriage, McRae teaches this aspect better than anyone, in my opinion. This is not really what I would call a workbook, but it is set up in semi-workbook fashion with exercises at the end of each chapter. Titled as "project pages" some of which go into very good detail and instruction. Written at the height of the women's movement, there is great detail given to the role of the wife and what it truly means to be "submissive", which is hardly what most of the more radical persuasion believe it means. Don't get me wrong, there is also plenty of time spent examining the "headship" of the husband, which is also grossly misunderstood in today's society. There are also 4 appendixes that are useful for anyone still planning their wedding. These cover vows, ring vows, a unity candle ceremony and reaffirming family ties. Of the shelves of books I have on marriage, this is one I still turn to over and over. Pastor Monty Rainey

This was a very helpful tool in helping a young Christian couple prepare for their upcoming marriage. Used as a tool to work through the principles of God for marriage, it aided my husband and myself to council this couple. I would recommend it highly.

As a pastor I have used this in premarital counseling for over 25 years. In fact, this material in unpublihed form was used when my wife (of 31 years) and I went through premarital counseling as an engaged couple. For many years the author was a teaching pastor for Believer's Chapel in Dallas Texas. The material is sound biblically and combines both instruction and a workbook.