Exciting things are coming up for MarriedPeople: Ted Lowe together with Doug Fields, are releasing their first book about marriage ministry strategy next month, and Ted is leading the Marriage Ministry Track for The Orange Conference 2014.

And today, Ted is taking over the Orange Leaders Twitter account! You’ll want to follow us at @OrangeLeaders to join in the conversation and ask Ted your burning questions about doing marriage ministry at your church. You can follow the conversation by searching the hashtag: #marriage.

Who is Ted?
For 10 years, Ted Lowe worked as the director of MarriedLife at North Point Community Church. His wife, Nancie, played a huge role in hosting and planning MarriedLife programs at North Point. They have three children: Chapman, Judson, and Teddie, and live in Cumming, Georgia. You can follow Ted on Twitter and Facebook.

Ted shared with Orange Leaders about his forthcoming book, Married People: How Your Church can Build Marriages that Last.

Orange Leaders: What is MarriedPeople?
Ted Lowe: The MarriedPeople mission isn’t very fancy, but it is clear: The mission of MarriedPeople is to help churches help marriages by giving them a proactive strategy and the resources to empower that strategy.

OL: Why were you motivated to start MarriedPeople?
TL: Prior to starting MarriedPeople, I served as the Director of MarriedLife at North Point Community Church. Every year at North Point’s annual conference for church leaders, I was approached by church leaders who wanted to help marriages, but they simply didn’t have the margin in terms of budget and staffing.

My heart became more and more burdened with wanting to be able to give churches a strategy and resources they could easily use, allow them to do the important stuff like actually pastoring people.

OL: Tell us about your new book, Married People: How Your Church can Build Marriages that Last. Why did you write Married People, and who is it for?
TL: I actually co-wrote the book with my dear friend and mentor, Doug Fields. We wrote the book for two reasons: One, to dive into the question of why marriage is the church’s business. And second, to give marriage ministry leaders a manual they could use to think through and customize a marriage strategy that works for their particular church setting. The book is for anyone who is passionate about leveraging the local church to empower marriages whether you are a full-time church staff member or a passionate volunteer.

OL: Why is marriage important to the church?
TL: We spend a lot of time unpacking the answer to that question in the book. But one of the biggest reasons is that marriage is a spiritual issue. If someone’s marriage isn’t working, it robs them of their best relationship with God. Great marriages are also the best gift a church can give a kid. We talk a lot about helping parents lead their kids spiritually. That’s really hard for parents to do when their marriages are not working. The best gift a church can give a kid is parents whose marriage is thriving.

OL: What is your hope for what happens after someone reads this book? What do you want people to do after reading the book?
TL: I want them to say, “That makes total sense—we can do this!” Then I want them to get a team around and take the first step to being known as a church that empowers marriages.

OL: Wrapping up, can you leave us with one final marriage tip?
TL: Laugh. People like me have made marriage much too serious. Find a way to Proverbs-5:18-it—“Rejoice in the wife [husband] of your youth.” Date once a week, making sure to laugh and have fun, but also find a way to laugh every day.

OL: Thanks, Ted, for sharing your heart about marriage ministry and for creating resources that build and shape godly marriages!