Our Mission
Communio is a nonprofit that consults with churches to equip them with data insights and ministry best practices to foster healthier relationships for singles, those preparing for marriage, married couples, and those in marital crisis.
Communio’s shared goal with a church is Christocentric. Our objective is to help you bring more souls to Christ by evangelizing and disciplining relationships and marriages. From the beginning, marriage has been central to God’s plan for humanity. Communio serves you to make marriage central to your church.
Communio is not another program. Rather, we equip your church with a proven strategic framework, 21st century data tools, and a ministry game plan that helps you put members of your church – and those in your surrounding community – onto a growth journey toward healthier relationships.
Drawing from a catalog of leading publishers in the field of relationship ministry, we help you and your leadership team select, promote, and run large, attractional community outreach events that flow people into ongoing engagement, and ultimately into skill-based relationship ministry.
The end result: your church is equipped to run a Data-Informed, Full-Circle Relationship Ministry™ that strengthens marriages, grows your congregation, and transforms your community.
What It Looks Like
Communio partners with churches across all Christian faith traditions to build out Data-Informed, Full-Circle Relationship Ministry™. Every partnership starts with a comprehensive diagnostic of the relationship health quality of the church – and the community. That data informs the development of a ministry strategy.
LCBC
One of Communio’s most dynamic church clients, LCBC Church, hosted more than 6,200 people for their first-ever Outreach Event. They prepared a “Great Date” experience for couples on 13 of its campuses across central and southern Pennsylvania. Couples left having experienced a fun, memorable night out that edified healthy marriage and relationships. The event is part of a long-term strategy Communio helped LCBC design to put people on a growth journey toward healthier relationships.
St. Michael’s Parish
A Communio-supported parish in Fairfax, Virginia hosted more than 230 people for its first-ever outdoor “Screen on the Green” couples date night on Saturday, October 3 as part of its new, multi-year outreach and evangelization initiative to support marriages in COVID and beyond. More than 60 percent of those in attendance were not members of the church. The date night was all the culmination of an ambitious six-week outreach campaign the parish developed and launched with support from Communio.
What is a Full-Circle Relationship Ministry™?
This means your church provides vision, skills, and community to individuals at each stage of a relationship – leveraging 21st century tools of predictive analytics and microtargeting to reach out to those in your community most likely in need of help. We then help you select from a catalog of the nation’s leading publishers within relationship ministry to curate the most effective approaches for your membership and community.
Singles
Establishes healthy dating habits and encourages marriage discernment.
Marriage Preparation
Couples assess compatibility and work with mentors before and after their wedding.
Marriage Enrichment
Married couples continuously learn skills to strengthen their relationship.
Marriage In Crisis
Couples have access to marriage intensives to help save struggling marriages.
Singles
Just 7% of churches report having this area of ministry.¹ For many twenty-somethings, “hooking up” is the norm. The most recent academic research finds that the modal time (most frequently occurring time) for when couples first have sex is now “before a relationship begins.” Meanwhile, many young adults view cohabitation as a better alternative to committed marriage. Setting aside the biblical and moral implications, social science continues to show that cohabitation increases the likelihood of becoming a single parent, suffering domestic violence, and getting divorced. Any effort to recover marriage as a social norm must square with these realities. An effective ministry for singles establishes counter-cultural norms and skills proven to improve happiness, relationship satisfaction, and life outcomes over the long term.
¹ 2019 Barna Survey
Marriage Preparation
Only 12% of churches offer substantive marital preparation with couples relationship education.¹ Most that do offer marriage preparation still lack many of the ingredients that foster healthy marriages. One critical component to an effective marriage preparation program is helping couples understand their compatibility. Ministries should also provide couples with communication skills, and help them form meaningful friendships with mentors in marriage who can help them work through the inevitable challenges that occur in early married life in the early years.
¹ 2019 Barna Survey
Marriage Enrichment
Experts in Couples Relationship Education recommend married couples commit to a habit of eight hours of marriage-strengthening activities each year. A consistent refresher for couples on how to communicate, show affection, and understand each other’s needs will ground a marriage in a set of skills to weather the normal ebbs and flows of life. Churches can also strengthen their marriage culture by providing an ongoing community where these skills and habits are practiced and encouraged.
Marriage In Crisis
94% of pastors report doing pastoral counseling for couples, but 57% report being only “somewhat” or “not very” qualified to provide effective pastoral guidance to these couples.¹ Most churches lack an ongoing ministry or road map to serve couples heading for a divorce. Communio helps your church develop its own marriage crisis game plan, anchored in best practices, to give couples the greatest chance of experiencing health, happiness, and forgiveness in their marriage.
¹ 2019 Barna Survey