Strengthening marriage is topic of
Church program at Indiana Black Expo

By Mary Ann Wyand

“Beyond Bliss: The Real Deal on Black Marriage,” an educational program sponsored by the archdiocesan Office of Multicultural Ministry, has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. on July 16 at Indiana Black Expo.

Andrew and Terri Lyke of Lyke to Lyke Consultants in Chicago will present the program in Room 105 at the Indiana Convention Center, 100 S. Capitol Ave., in Indianapolis. It is free with admission to Indiana Black Expo, which concludes on July 17.

“The institution of marriage is in crisis in the black community,” Andrew Lyke explained in an e-mail interview on July 11, “and all of the institutions that serve the community have to step up their game to save marriage and thereby save the family.”

Their presentation will address “how marriage has lost its religiosity,” he said, “and has been taken over by the secular culture that would have us believe that it’s all about the couple, that it’s private, and that anyone who would dare to ask, ‘How’s the marriage?’ is getting into their ‘business.’”

He said they also will discuss “how we reclaim marriage as a religious institution, how married couples need stakeholders who hold their feet to the fire, and how serving marriage is not just serving couples—it’s about the whole community.”

Terri Lyke noted that the number of female single parents continues to rise in the U.S.

“Divorce is at an all-time high,” she said, “however, most [women who are single parents] were never married. We females believe that we can do it all. Many of these mothers are doing a great job providing for their children, but we are increasingly seeing a missing element—a marriage.”

She said every child deserves to be part of a healthy family relationship with parents who are married and share parenting responsibilities.

“To witness and know healthy marriages exist in their lives allows them that possibility for themselves,” Terri Lyke said. “If the parents of the child are not married, it is the responsibility of the parent to seek out and find role models for the children. We are raising generations of single head-of-households in all areas of society.”

She said their program challenges single parents and calls married couples to “step up to the plate” and partner in ways to support the “real” needs of our children.

When the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced their “National Pastoral Initiative on Marriage” on Nov. 17, 2004, Bishop J. Kevin Boland, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Marriage and Family Life, cited national statistics from the National Marriage Project indicating that “for the average couple marrying in recent years, the lifetime probability of divorce remains close to 50 percent.”

The bishops’ also listed national statistics from the Barna Group Research Project, which found that “among all adults who have been married, 35 percent have been divorced” and “of those who have been divorced, 18 percent have been divorced multiple times.”

The bishops also noted that the Barna Group’s research indicated that “Catholics are still less likely to get divorced than Protestants” by a ratio of 25 percent to 39 percent.

The Lykes have been involved in marriage ministry for the African-American Catholic community in Chicago since 1982. They were married in 1975 and have been involved in marriage ministry since 1978.

He is the coordinator of Marriage Ministry for the Archdiocese of Chicago and is a member of the national advisory council of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Father Kenneth Taylor, director of the archdiocesan Office of Multicultural Ministry and pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Indianapolis, said their presentation on ways to strengthen marriage in the black community marks the first time that an archdiocesan agency has presented an educational program in the 35-year history of Indiana Black Expo.

In previous years, he said, various archdiocesan agencies have sponsored information booths at Indiana Black Expo to promote Church ministries and parishes.

(For more information about Indiana Black Expo programs and activities, which conclude on July 17 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, log on to indianablackexpo.com.) †