By STEVEN CALHOUN/Staff Writer

Pastor Jeff Calhoun of Lomax Assembly of God is holding a Better Marriage, Better Life seminar this Sunday at the Jefferson State Performance Hall from 3-6 p.m.

Calhoun will speak from personal experience as a counselor, minister and from his 27 years of marriage to his wife, Donna. The event is sponsored by Lomax Assembly of God and is free and open to the public. There will be prize drawings and refreshments.

The seminar will be broken into three one hour segments, and there will be four main topics covered: two becoming one; making conflict productive, not destructive; how to have a happy, healthy sex life and surviving and thriving in the seasons of marriage.

“These will pretty much embrace everything that, if applied, [will help] a couple have a very happy, healthy marriage,” said Calhoun.

He said the event would benefit couples who are newlywed as well as those who have been together a long time.

Calhoun said he will be using personal examples and sharing stories from marriages he has counseled who gave him permission to share. He will not hold breakout group sessions at the seminar.

“We just want to make it one big group thing to make it non-invasive. I don’t want to make anybody uncomfortable,” said Calhoun. “It’s casual, we want people to come comfortable and enjoy it. Even if you come for any one of the hours … what you will receive in an hour will definitely … benefit you in some way and make your marriage better.”

Calhoun said he saw a need in the community and in his church among married couples. He put up a poll and had hundreds of people say they were interested in a marriage conference.

“The statistics tell us 50-plus percent of marriages end in divorce. There just needs to be something,” said Calhoun. “There’s nothing out there … that I see, especially locally, to help Christian marriages.”

The church sees this as their investment into the marriages of the community.

Calhoun said the principles he will teach are applicable for believers and non-believers alike. He believes a happy marriage affects other aspects of a couple’s lives.

“If you’re happy in your home and you’re happy with your mate that God has given you, then everything else in life works out,” said Calhoun.

The Better Marriage, Better Life seminar will be held from 3-6 p.m. at Jefferson State in the Performance Hall. It is free to attend and open to the public.