'Essential' reading

Essentials of an Excellent Christian Marriage

One of the leadership books sent as part of our March 2022 library mailing is Essentials of an Excellent Christian Marriage. This is the latest book in the Mission Possible Essentials series by Richard Wallis (with John and Jo Collinson Ranjini Mathew) and this manual has received many plaudits from our library recipients. 

“I thank God for the gift of the book Essentials of an Excellent Christian Marriage. It really came at the right time,” writes Pastor Joyce from Southside Evangelical Church, Harare, Zimbabwe. “This first half, as a church, we have dedicated it to building Kingdom Families and Marriages; so when we received the book, we really thanked God as we now have a material to use as we teach couples in our effort to build Kingdom of God families and marriages. May God continue to bless the ministry. May grace abound upon the whole team. We greatly appreciate the love and what you are doing to bless and touch many lives even here in Zimbabwe, Africa.”

Meanwhile, from one of our library recipients, Amudha in Karnataka, India: “Thank you for the two copies of the Essentials of an Excellent Christian Marriage for our library. This is so very useful for our students for the course of Pastoral Care and Counselling, and Pre-Marital Counselling. We thank you for this wonderful literature ministry by Sovereign World Trust…by reading the books you send our students are blessed.” 

 In 2018, the first book in the Essentials series about leadership was published. Sovereign World Trust decided to send out 2000 copies of The Essentials of Excellent Christian Leadership in our annual mailing. The feedback was unequivocal, with Christian leaders commenting on the clear and logical structure of the book. 

Encouraged by this and other positive feedback, Richard Wallis embarked upon the Essentials of an Excellent Christian Marriage, seeking to teach in a clear and logical way Biblically based truths about marriage, being aware of cultural differences but also not wishing to perpetuate customs that are clearly counter to such Biblical teaching. This teaching manual for church leaders can be used both for marriage preparation courses for engaged couples – and also for marriage enrichment courses to help couples already married to build a stronger marriage. The material can be adapted by Christian leaders to meet local cultural requirements as long as the basic Biblical principles of marriage taught are followed. Though not primarily written for this purpose, the manual can also be used by couples together outside of a formal training context. There is also a lesson module designed for younger people who are dating.