Clergy and Extension Networking for Newly Married Couples

Newly married couples are often a difficult audience for Extension educators to reach. Since clergy members routinely conduct counseling sessions with couples before their marriages, clergy could be an important contact in reaching this audience. To find out whether clergy would use Extension as a resource, a mail survey was conducted. Results indicated clergy were receptive to referring couples to Extension and even offering Extension education classes through their churches. As a follow-up to the survey, Extension conducted a one day "clergy refresher" to help acquaint clergy with educational services offered. This work was an important first step in building a relationship between Extension and clergy to expand programming for newly married couples.