Stepping and Blending

Stepping and Blending is a culturally sensitive and biblically sound educational and counseling resource. It is designed to help African Americans prepare for marriage, remarriage and step family life. Intended audience is the unmarried, divorced, widowed, pastors and church leaders, professionals, those living in a stepfamily and seminaries that train ministers. Blacks have the lowest marriage rate of all ethnic groups, the highest divorce, the lowest remarriage, but the highest re-divorce rate. 2/3 of black marriages end in divorce and 2 out of 3 children experience their parents' divorce by age 16. Program content includes a Divorce or Relationship Recovery Recipe, divided into five modules and a Premarital Preparation Packet divided into six modules. The "Black Church" is identified as the main institution to prepare families for marriage. 70% of African Americans belong to the church and 84% consider themselves religious. If we, the Black Church, and multiethnic churches who serve Blacks, do not prepare couples for marriage and family life, who will? Dr. Long has Masters degrees in both Social Work and Counseling and a Doctorate in Ministry with 36 years of postmasters' clinical experience and 29 years of Christian ministry experience. She is credited with developing and operating a church owned Christian Counseling Ministry in a 6000+ member church for 6 1/2 years, and is developing the same in her current church of approximately 3000 members. She practices full time in a Christian agency in Virginia Beach, VA; serves on the faculty of Providence Theological Seminary in Norfolk, VA, and is an associate minister at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Virginia Beach. She is the sole proprietor of an education and consulting company, First Seek The Kingdom Counseling and Consulting Services. Dr. Long is a divorced mother and grandmother of one. Contact information includes email address: seekye@cox.net or website: www. FirstSeektheKingdom.com.