Newly Married Ministry Resources
Community for Newly Married Couples in Your Church
A Christ-centered newly married ministry that helps churches establish couples for a lifetime of oneness and ministry.
A Christ-centered newly married ministry that helps churches establish couples for a lifetime of oneness and ministry.
Foundation Groups helps your church support and disciple couples in their first three years of marriage, often alongside your existing small groups ministry. Groups of four to six couples are led by an experienced mentor couple through curriculum centered on biblical guidance, authentic community, and a strong foundation for marriage.

The first years of marriage can be some of the most joyful and some of the most difficult. Foundation Groups provide a structure to help churches step in early with biblical truth, intentional community, and wise mentorship so newly married couples are not left to navigate those years alone.
A Biblical Foundation for Marriage
Foundation Groups help churches give newly married couples more than good advice. They give them a consistent, Christ-centered environment where they can grow in their understanding of God’s design for marriage and begin building their life together on biblical truth.
Proactive Instead of Reactive
Rather than waiting until struggles deepen, Foundation Groups help churches invest in couples during the earliest years of marriage—when wise counsel, honest community, and intentional discipleship can shape the years ahead.
Healthy Marriages Strengthen the Church
When newly married couples grow in oneness with Christ and one another, the impact reaches beyond their own home. The domino effect on marriages throughout your church is evident as those in healthy marriages counsel others, raise children, and build up the body of Christ.
An Investment in the Future of Your Church
Churches that invest early in marriage are investing in future leaders, future families, and the long-term health of their congregation. Foundation Groups provide churches with a clear pathway to serve newlyweds in ways that can bear fruit for years to come.
Foundation Groups help newly married couples build rhythms that are hard to form in isolation. In the context of Christ-centered community, couples are encouraged to grow in oneness, practice honesty, receive wisdom from a mentor couple and peers, and establish patterns that can shape their marriage for the long haul.

Foundation Groups give churches a clear and intentional way to care for newlyweds during the earliest years of marriage. It helps church leaders provide biblical guidance, meaningful community, and ongoing encouragement in a season that often shapes the trajectory of a couple’s life together.
Foundation Groups are for couples who want to establish a Christ-centered foundation for their marriage. In the context of community and mentorship, couples are encouraged to grow in friendship, oneness, and faith.
1/3
1/3
Couples work through the curriculum on their own and discuss it as a couple before gathering with their group.
2/3
Groups meet at the mentor couple’s home for life-on-life discipleship. Here couples walk through the curriculum, talk honestly about what is happening in their marriages, and receive wisdom from a couple who is further ahead.
3/3
The healthiest Foundation Groups connect beyond formal meeting times for accountability, friendship, service, and shared life.
A strong marriage begins with two people who take responsibility for their own growth, as husbands and wives intentionally pursue Jesus both individually and together.
Establishes a biblical view of marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman that reflects Christ and the church and shapes a couple’s shared life.
Shows couples why marriage was never meant to be lived in isolation and how confession, accountability, encouragement, and support help marriages grow in holiness and resilience.
Helps couples listen with understanding, speak with truth and grace, and navigate disagreements with humility, unity, and biblical wisdom.
Explore biblical roles in marriage and learn how to apply them with grace, flexibility, teamwork, and a shared commitment to oneness and mission.
Helps couples understand how family of origin and in-laws shape marriage and establish healthy boundaries while honoring and caring for both families.
Lays a biblical foundation for stewardship, generosity, budgeting, debt, long-term planning, and work so couples can make wise decisions and pursue shared financial goals.
Helps couples cultivate friendship, emotional connection, and a healthy sex life while addressing barriers, building trust, and establishing wise boundaries that protect intimacy.
Helps couples recognize how busyness can erode connection and create intentional rhythms that protect margin, intimacy, and spiritual health.
Invites couples to see their marriage as part of God’s mission, serve and disciple others together, and intentionally build a legacy shaped by faithfulness.
There is no one-size-fits-all path to launching Foundation Groups. While most churches take about one to three months to implement the ministry, the timing and approach can vary based on your team, structure, and ministry context.
Explore the Ministry
Sign a Use Agreement
Launch the Ministry Live at Your Church
Explore the Ministry
Sign a Use Agreement
Launch the Ministry Live at Your Church
From exploring the ministry to leading it in your church, our team provides ministry coaching, resources, training events, and more to make sure you feel supported along the way.
Guidance from leaders with real experience implementing and running the ministry.
Our resource library helps equip you as you launch and lead the ministry.
Opportunities to learn from experienced practitioners.
Support when questions arise or challenges need troubleshooting.
Type in your location to see if there’s a Foundation Groups church near you.
The first Foundation Groups began at Watermark Community Church in 2002. This ministry arose out of a need for intentional community among newly married couples. We added the logo in 2010.
If you’d like to explore whether Foundation Groups is a fit for your church, fill out the ministry interest form to start the conversation. Our team would love to help you think through next steps.
Our training conferences connect you with other ministry leaders so you can walk away with the vision, resources, and tools needed to build and sustain a healthy ministry.
October 14-15, 2026
Dallas, TX
A two-day training event for churches looking to start or strengthen a Christ-centered marriage ministry.
March 10-11, 2027
Dallas, TX
Registration opens soon. Check back for event details.
Our Church Leadership Podcast, regular blogs, and deep library of discipleship resources encourage and educate church leaders as they serve in their specific ministry context.
Scott Kedersha, Watermark National Director of Merge and Foundation Groups, joins Adam and John to discuss five trends he’s seeing in marriages.
BlogYour biggest discipleship opportunity As church leaders, we know the importance of serving married couples. God has established the importance of marriage, and from a practical perspective, married couples comprise the majority of most congregations. But when serving marriages, we tend to set our sights far too low. Marriage ministry often gets relegated to its own bubble, separate from the overall spiritual shepherding of the church. If this is your church's reality, you are missing out on what is likely your biggest discipleship opportunity.
PodcastOn this episode of the Church Leadership Podcast, Adam interviews John and Pam McGee about their leadership, marriage, and ministry. Listen in for practical advice about what it takes to be faithful both at home and in the church. For show notes and more, visit https://www.watermarkresources.com/clp/8114-a-leaders-marriage
We’d love to help. Fill out the form to let us know what questions you have about Foundation Groups, and a member of our team will follow up with you.
Keep up-to-date with news and updates on our latest podcast episodes, blog articles, and conferences by subscribing to our newsletter.