My situation with the Local Church

[Evangelical]

Originally Posted by Ohio

Evangelical, if LC dating ideas and marriage plans for young people were so successful, then we should see the fruit. Unfortunately, I have seen far too many failures. Even in other cultures, like India, where arranged marriages are the accepted norm, it is the parents who do the arranging, not the church elders or serving ones. There are far too many church elders who place the short-term needs of their church ahead of the long-term needs of young people. It was my experience in the LC that wise and mature counselors were usually no where to be found.

Some of your comments are quite troublesome. You said, "There's no problem if two people want to get married within a week and don't know each other." Are you serious? If they don't know each other, why would anyone want to marry and invest their life with a stranger? Your comment, "She is not yours," actually implies to me that you consider this young lady to be "church property" with little concern for her as a person.

The practice of a Christian courtship is far healthier for young people today. Neither the extremes of loveless arrangements nor "try before you buy" are the only options.

Ohio, Witness Lee said elders should not control or interfere in marriages. To my knowledge this does not happen in the local churches. Of course she belongs to God and so she must be part of the church because the church belongs to God.