The Church is God's household. (Ephesians 2:18-22 NW) God's children of different ages worship together; learn together; serve together; and enjoy fellowship and God's blessings as a large extended family within churches. But the reality in most church communities and many households as well, is not often as cohesive and loving as one would hope. This ministry initiative is an attempt to link church member generations through the common ground of the family -- specifically, through an effort to improve and refine both family and community relationships. The candidate and the Lay Advisory Committee, together, developed this lay ministry initiative and designated it Couples Plus. The concept is to prepare and encourage senior couples (within and above the 50 year old generational cohort) to minister to and to encourage younger couples as they cope with the problems and challenges of having immigrated to the United States from South Korea.

Couples Plus includes an overnight retreat for volunteer team members, four five-hour long sessions, and an overnight retreat for participants. Team members serve participants with humility, sacrificial love, and modeled Jesus' ministry on earth.

Before and after the retreat gathering, the twelve participating couples fills out questionnaires to help them reflect on their experiences and consider the effect of Couples Plus on their marriage; their church life; and their relationships with all of the team members.

The objective of the project is to demonstrate that intentional and deliberate efforts to link generations through lay ministry, by identifying needs and selflessly providing ministry services, is essential to the health and well being of the church and its members. This legacy of faith must be carried forward. The collective wisdom and experiences of each generation need to be lovingly shared one to another so that each individual may be enriched by both the giving and receiving of grace and encouragement.