Key Takeaways

1. The Baptist General Convention of Texas (Texas Baptists) and Communio have announced a formal statewide partnership to equip churches with data-informed marriage and family ministry.

2. The urgency is real: only 54% of Texas children are raised by their married, biological parents, and more than 42% of births in the state occur outside of marriage.

3. Churches already partnering with Communio in Texas have seen double-digit growth in Sunday attendance and hundreds of first-time guests — alongside marriages restored.

4. One Texas pastor described the experience as “like adding another staff member with tons of resources, experience, and ideas.”

5. This partnership is part of Communio’s broader national strategy: when churches invest in marriages, families strengthen — and the local church becomes a trusted anchor in its community.

The Story: A Statewide Partnership Built Around an Urgent Need

The Baptist General Convention of Texas — one of the largest Baptist bodies in the country — has formally partnered with Communio, the national nonprofit marriage ministry, in a new statewide initiative designed to equip churches to strengthen marriages and support families across Texas.

The announcement, covered this week by The Christian Post, marks one of the most significant denominational partnerships in Communio’s history. The goal: give thousands of Texas pastors direct access to Communio’s coaching, tools, and data-informed relationship ministry programs — and do it at a scale the state’s family crisis demands.

And the crisis is real. According to a 2024 report from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, just over half of Texas children are raised by their married, biological parents. More than 42% of births in the state occur outside of marriage. The CDC data cited in that same report shows Texas recording 2.1 divorces per 1,000 residents — a rate that, compounded across millions of families, represents an enormous weight carried quietly inside the pews of churches across the state.

The Core Finding: What Happens When a Church Actually Shows Up for Marriages

Texas Baptists Executive Director Julio Guarneri didn’t mince words when announcing the partnership: “At a time when many couples and families are under growing strain, the local church is best positioned to respond — not only by preaching the gospel, but by walking alongside people in their most important relationships.”

That phrase — walking alongside — is the key.

Most churches already preach about marriage. What this partnership addresses is the gap between a sermon and a strategy. Communio brings churches data-driven assessments, structured coaching, and relationship ministry programs that meet couples where they are — before crisis, not after.

The results in Texas Baptist churches have already been measurable. Communio founder and president J.P. De Gance noted that partnering Baptist churches in Texas have seen double-digit increases in church attendance, hundreds of first-time guests, and a number of marriages that have been saved. Nationally, churches that partner with Communio for one to two years see an average 24% growth in Sunday attendance. In 2025 alone, more than 56,000 people attended Communio outreach experiences — with nearly one-third coming from outside the church membership.

These aren’t attendance gimmicks. They’re the downstream effect of churches becoming places where families feel genuinely supported.

The Counterintuitive Angle: Marriage Ministry Is Evangelism

Here’s what most people miss when they hear “marriage ministry”: they picture a couples’ retreat or a weekend seminar for people who are already struggling.

That’s not what this is.

The Communio model — and what this Texas Baptists partnership is built around — treats marriage and family ministry as the front door of the church, not a back-room program. When a church hosts a well-designed community event for couples and families, it creates what J.P. De Gance calls a “non-threatening on-ramp” — a way for people who would never walk into a Sunday service to show up, engage, and encounter a community that cares about them.

Pastor Ronny Marriott, senior pastor of First Baptist Richardson and a former Texas Baptists president, has seen this play out in two different congregations he has led. His church used Communio to plan and promote community events — block parties, date nights, family gatherings — and the impact extended well beyond the events themselves. Families came back. They brought friends. They started attending Sunday worship. They found a church that felt like a safe place to be.

“Everything we do, inviting these couples, connects to something else,” Marriott said. “If they are on campus and they meet our people, they find this is a safe place to be.”

Marriage ministry, done well, isn’t a side program. It’s one of the most effective evangelism strategies a local church has available.

What This Means for Your Church

At Communio, we believe this Texas partnership is a model — not just a moment.

The family data in Texas reflects what we see in communities across the country. In nearly every zip code, a significant share of children are growing up outside stable, two-parent homes. A significant share of marriages are quietly under strain. And a significant share of couples in your congregation right now have never been asked directly: How are you doing? How is your marriage?

This partnership gives Texas Baptist churches the tools to ask that question — and to have something meaningful to offer when the answer is honest.

If you lead a church outside Texas, the same opportunity exists. Communio works with pastors across Evangelical, Protestant, and Catholic contexts nationwide to design relationship ministry that fits the real culture of their congregation — not a generic curriculum, but a data-informed strategy built around where your church actually is and where God is calling it to go.

Think about the couples in your congregation right now. The young marrieds navigating the first hard years. The mid-life couples drifting apart under the weight of work, kids, and exhaustion. The families on the edge who haven’t told anyone yet. Your church is already the most trusted institution in their lives. This partnership model — and what it has produced in Texas — shows what it looks like when a church decides to act on that trust.

Take the Next Step

Communio works with pastors and church leaders across the country to build marriage and family ministry that’s rooted in research, built for real congregations, and proven to produce results.

► Read the full Christian Post article → christianpost.com

► Explore Communio’s research and national strategy → communio.org/research

Credit: This post draws on reporting from The Christian Post and Baptist Standard, data from the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and CDC marriage and divorce statistics. Read the original Christian Post article here.