Living in an age where marriages often fail more than they succeed, leaving families and homes broken and dissolved, Selma residents will soon have an opportunity to enrich and invest time in their marriages.

Elkdale Baptist Church is hosting a two-day marriage conference and encourages anyone who may be struggling in their marriage, happy in their marriage, those who have been married 60 years or are engaged to be married to attend the conference.

The conference will take place Feb. 8–9 and will have live music and feature a series of six video sessions specifically created for churches hosting marriage retreats. Couples must register before Jan. 31, and can pick up registration forms at Elkdale Baptist, Selma’s Baptist Association and other area churches.

“The more you invest in your marriage, the more valuable it becomes,” Cory Horton pastor of Elkdale Baptist said. “I realize that a Friday night and a Saturday is not going to fix all the problems that a marriage may have, but what it will do is hopefully generate a time where husbands and wives who are doing well can be replenished, refreshed.”

Horton said his hope is instead of having the people of Dallas County travel to Atlanta and spend upwards of $500 on a mega-marriage conference, they will be able to have a similar experience in town for only $45.

“We expect to be married till we die; surely we should put some training into the marriage and help the stability of it. If it’s going to be a relationship that lasts till death then it needs to be invested in,” Horton said. “Husbands and wives who are struggling, who are on the brink of divorce, on the brink of losing children, on the brink of problems, then they can come to a retreat, a getaway — a sanctuary if you will, just [a time] where they’re focused on their walk with the Lord, their walk with each other and be encouraged and be uplifted and possibly turned onto other resources for follow up help if needed.”

No matter how long a couple has been married, Horton said, there’s no reason not to invest or to be rejuvenated.

“We’ve never done this before,” he said. “We’re just trying our best to find ways to invest in people and families.”

Horton said Elkdale will provide childcare for couples with children, adding, “We’re trying to make it to where there’s no hindrance.”

For those who register by Jan. 31, Horton said the experience will be like you went to a marriage conference.

“You’re going to feel, hopefully, like you came to a conference. You’re going to get materials, your name in a hat for some door prizes, you’re going to sit through prayer sessions where you and your marriage will be prayed over,” he listed. “There will be some funny humor involved, and six DVD sessions. It kind of flows through the moves of marriage.”

For more information on the art of marriage conference 872-3456.