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ABC's limited Monday commercials this month have made room for its Key to Success series of extended features. So far, Bill Weir has shown us Montana fighting the demon methamphetamine; David Muir has helped clean up trash from Yosemite; Weir has praised the KIPP chain of charter schools. Now Dan Harris (subscription required) describes how Clackamas County in Oregon is trying to drive down its divorce rate. The Community Marriage Policy has persuaded 170 of the county's churches to forbid "quickie weddings." For the past six years, bride and groom have been obliged to undergo four sessions of pre-nuptial counseling before saying their I Do's. The program is the brainchild of Tom and Liz Dressel, who found their own marriage on the rocks and wanted to warn young couples not to follow in their footsteps. "There was no love there. Alcohol had come in," recalled Liz. What turned it around? "It was bringing the Lord into our life," responded Tom.
In the past five year's the divorce rate in Clackamas County has fallen by 15%. Harris did not tell us, for comparison's sake, what the trends for divorce are in counties where couples can still tie a quickie knot.
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