Love and Respect Conference comes to Emerald Coast

It took a year and a half, but Grace Lutheran Church has been able to bring the Love and Respect Conference to the Emerald Coast.
Focus on the Family and Dr. Emerson Eggerichs and his wife, Sarah, are partnering to present the conference Sept. 19 and 20 at the Emerald Coast Conference Center. Times are 6:45 to 10 p.m. Friday and 8:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Child care will not be provided.
“We thought, why not see if we could bring him down — live — to help improve marriages on the Emerald Coast?” Pastor Paul Kummer of Grace Lutheran Church told The Log. “We contacted him a year and a half ago and now it’s getting close.”
Dr. Eggerichs’ book, “Love and Respect,” is a life-changing book and video series which won the Gold Medallion Award and Retailers Choice Award in 2005 and was selected as the 2007 Book of the Year for Family Christian Stores.
“Susan and I have facilitated for about six classes (using the book) totaling 100 people and it’s really helped marriages be even stronger,” Kummer said.
The Kummers also attended a live conference in Texas with church member Lynn Bowling and her husband, George.
Eggerichs launched the Love and Respect Conferences in August 1999 to serve husbands and wives.
The Eggerichs know firsthand what can hurt a relationship. Now they’re coming to Destin to reveal the ingredients needed for a strong relationship. Together they will uncover a truth which has been hidden in plain sight for more than 2,000 years —a truth that can make a difference in every marriage.
This truth is found in Ephesians 5:33: Husbands must love their wives and wives must respect their husbands.
The conference is a joint effort by many churches in Destin. Hosted by Grace Lutheran, other churches participating in the conference include Destiny Worship Center, Village Baptist, First Baptist, Immanuel Anglican, Shoreline and Destin United Methodist.
“We all like doing things together like we have in the past with similar sermon series at the same time, the Week of Blessings and other events,” Kummer said. “The pastors all had a conference call with Dr. Eggerichs a year ago and signed on to promote it together to get as many people as possible. Many of these churches have also taught the video series and knew of the great book.”
All churches are listed on all publicity. Grace Lutheran is paying for it with a $13,000 grant from the Corman Foundation and a loan from a church member.
More than 100 volunteers from all the congregations will help with parking, resource tables, security and more.
“For seven churches in one small town to do a joint venture is pretty exciting to me,” Lynn Bowling, co-coordinator of the event, told The Log. “But beyond that, the Love and Respect ministry presents biblical principles in such a way that men love it, and so do the women. That’s a winning combination.”
Focus on the Family supports Love and Respect in major ways and sponsors many of them across the nation.
“They are advertising the conference on 5 Christian radio stations from Mobile to Panama City and also sending out e-mail blasts to their constituencies,” Kummer said. “They are putting up a lot of money for this so as many people as possible attend.”
The conference is not only for those who are married, but also for singles and those who are planning to get married.
“We chose the Eggerichs’ conference because we, as pastors, believe that if you have strong marriages, you have strong families and therefore you have strong communities,” Kummer said. “We, as pastors, do lots of marriage counseling and minister to broken families all the time. We see such a need for encouragement in marriages and want people to know the power God provides to love our wives and respect our husbands.”
All the recent conferences have been sold out.
“We are praying for at least 1,200 to pack the ECCC,” Kummer said. “People are already registered from 16 different states. All the co-hosting churches are publicizing it with video clips and their pastors are encouraging their congregations from the pulpit.”
Cost of the conference is $45 per person and registration is on a first come first served basis.
“We already have more than 50 registrants coming from Pensacola, almost that many coming from Troy, Ala., a huge contingency from Panama City, and a surprisingly large number from Georgia,” Bowling said. “And while ‘our local people’ are beginning to sign up, I hope they realize what a great opportunity it is to have Dr. Eggerichs right here in our area. Everyone else coming in will be paying travel and hotel expenses to take advantage of attending a Love and Respect LIVE Conference, all we have to do is show up — and hopefully, volunteer to help out.”
To register for the conference, visit  www.gracedestin.com/LandR.html
To be a part of the volunteer team, call Bowling at (850) 837 1665 or e-mail loveandrespect@gracedestin