Last Month, in our Riedy Reader, I shared some of the history of FamilyLife’s founding. With Staff conference last week we were again taken for a bit of a trip down memory lane. Part of that trip was a phone call to all staff from Don and Sally Meredith. “Who are they?”, you ask? Well, that goes back to some history…
Back in 1975, one of the leaders for Campus Crusade for Christ arrived at a planning meeting with a heavy burden on her heart. Ney Bailey had recently counseled several Crusade staff couples whose marriages were crumbling, and she saw the devastating effect those troubled relationships had on their outreach.
“We’ve got to do something to help the marriages and families of our staff.” she told the group. And then, to their surprise and to hers, she laid her head on the table and sobbed.
Perhaps it took the tears of this single staff woman to get something done. In 1976 Ney, along with David and Sande Sunde, was sent to the US Congress on the Family, organized by J. Allen Petersen. And that conference led them to create a “Marriage Preparation and Family Emphasis” ministry to train Campus Crusade engaged couples in how to build solid marriages according to God’s blueprints.
Don and Sally Meredith headed up the fledgling ministry and were soon joined by Dennis and Barbara Rainey and Mick and Helen Yoder. Their first conference that fall, a pre-marriage event for couples in Crusade, drew 21 couples! Now, after 40 years and FamilyLife reaching millions through events and radio this founding couples took this moment at staff conference to exhort us all to remain focused on reaching others for Christ.
Much of our Staff Conference was about looking forward, and what we are seeking God for in the future but it is always a good thing to remember that we are all part of a bigger story!
TRIVIA: The official name change to FamilyLife didn’t occur until 1993 – a year after Eric and I attended our first Weekend to Remember getaway!
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