A post from my amazing husband, Allen Rigg…

My wife, Christian recording artist Miranda Landers, and I recently celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary. Years after we both went through very painful and public divorces, I’m so thankful for the churches who’ve had Miranda and me out to sing, speak, or both at marriage events like banquets, conferences, retreats, etc. As a divorced-and-remarried couple, we can’t help but notice how rare this is.

For the most part, only married-never-divorced people are invited to sing – much less speak – at these events. Divorce – if mentioned at all – is presented as something to be ashamed of. Remarriage, blended families, etc., are rarely addressed. Also missing is any kind of serious discussion about abuse and neglect in their many forms and how they affect us all. I wonder sometimes if the leaders planning these events have given much thought to the number of divorced-and-remarried couples who attend.

If I could make just a few simple suggestions that might be helpful for a church planning a marriage event…

Acknowledge – A good first step would be to acknowledge the presence of divorced-and-remarried couples at these events. Some have left the church – at least for a season – but many have returned or never left. We’re here and we need to know that you see us and that we matter.

Validate – Another step would be to validate us as human beings and couples. Things happened that we thought would never happen to us, that we didn’t want to happen to us, and that we wish hadn’t happened to us. We need to know that we’re not less than the married-never-divorced couples around us.

Listen – Divorced-and-remarried couples have so much to offer. I like to say that not all my divorced friends were bad spouses – and not all my married friends are good ones. We’re all in this together and can learn from each other.

Include – It’s time to include divorced and divorced-and-remarried people among those invited to present at marriage events. You wouldn’t have an event about gender issues and invite only men to speak or an event about race and invite only white people to speak. To have a marriage event and invite only married-never-divorced people to present is to create an echo chamber of sorts. Diversity will only make these events more helpful and meaningful for all.

We’ve been blessed to work with amazing leaders around the country who are seizing the opportunity to make a difference. They’re making bold moves in terms of who they invite to present and even the topics that are addressed. Because of their courage, divorced and divorced-and-remarried people are feeling hopeful again. Thank you, thank you, thank you! This makes us very happy.

30 new dates just posted for our 2018!  Our tour will take us North this year through Oregon and Washington-then down through the Midwest and back home via the Southwest.  More dates to come so make sure you check back!!!  Here is what we have so far….

2018 Dates

January 7

Calvary Chapel Foothill Ranch
26882 Vista Ter
Lake Forest, CA 92630
9 & 11AM Services
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

February 8

Calvary Chapel San Dimas
121 N San Dimas Ave
San Dimas, CA 91773
Couples dinner at Lucabella at the Walker House
*music and co-presenter with Allen Rigg 6PM

February 18

Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa
39405 Murrieta Hot Springs Rd
Murrieta, CA 92563
10AM couples Valntine’s Retreat
location is: Murrieta Hot Springs Conference Center

April 1

Newport Coast Lighthouse
6655 Ridge Park Road
Newport Beach, CA 92657
10AM Service
April 15

Refuge Bible Church
1600 Chicago Ave
Riverside, CA 92507
10AM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

April 29

Calvary Chapel Arrowhead
9965 W Calle Lejos
Peoria, AZ 85383
10AM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

May 6

Calvary Chapel Eastvale
7437 Corona Valley Ave
Eastvale, CA 92880
8:30AM & 10AM Services
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

May 6

Calvary Chapel Fontana
16725 Valencia Ave
Fontana, CA 92335
6PM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

June 3

Calvary Chapel Rosedale
703 Mondavi Way
Bakersfield, CA
10:30AM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

June 10

Calvary Chapel Bakersfield
1212 Brentwood Dr
Bakersfield, CA 93306
10AM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

June 24

Cornerstone Ministries Napa Valley
3305 Linda Vista Ave
Napa, CA 94558
10:30AM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

July 1

First Baptist Church
649 Crater Lake Ave
Medford, OR  97504
10:30AM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

July 8

Simple Faith Calvary Chapel
11815 NE 113th St, Ste 120
Vancouver, WA 98662
10AM Service
July 15

Crossroads Christian Fellowship
141 Michaels Ranch Ln
Canyonville, OR 97417
10AM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

July 22

Calvary Chapel Monmouth/Independence
1475 Monmouth St
Independence, OR 97351
8:30AM & 10AM Services
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

July 29

Calvary Chapel Gresham
8 NE Hogan Dr
Gresham, OR 97030
10AM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

August 3-5

Calvary Longview Family Camp
1100 Northwest Ridge Road
Warrenton, OR 97121
Located at the Astoria KOA
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg at all sessions

August 11-12

Calvary Chapel Olympia
919 Division St NW
Olympia, WA  98502
6PM Saturday, 10AM Sunday
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

August 19

Harbor Calvary Chapel
108 S K St
Aberdeen, WA 98520
9AM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

August 22

Calvary Arlington
225 E 3rd St
Arlington, WA  98223
7PM Services
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg TBD

August 26

Calvary Chapel Lake Stevens
9428 4th St SE
Lake Stevens, WA  98258
10:30AM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

August 29

Calvary Chapel Lake Stevens
9428 4th St SE
Lake Stevens, WA  98258
7PM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

September 2

Calvary Arlington
225 E 3rd St
Arlington, WA 98223
9AM & 11AM Services
September 14

Grace Church
100 N Meridian
Rupert, ID 83350
Ascend 18 Ministry Conference
Times Tentative-details to follow

September 16

Grace Church
100 N Meridian
Rupert, ID 83350
8:45 & 11AM Services
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

September 19

Tooele Springs Calvary Chapel
47 N Main St
Tooele, Utah 84074
7PM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

September 29

Calvary Aurora
18900 E Hampden Ave
Aurora, CO  80013
6PM Saturday, 8:45 & 10:45AM Sunday
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

October 3

Calvary Chapel South Denver
9052 W Ken Caryl Ave
Littleton, CO 80128
6:30PM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

November 4

Grace Church (Allen Rigg speaking only)
4111 Plains Blvd
Amarillo, TX 79106
9 & 11AM Services
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

December 19

Calvary Chapel Corona
130 W Chase drive
Corona, CA
7PM Service
*Guest speaker Allen Rigg

Tomorrow I’ll be leading worship for the CCCM Couples Valentine’s Retreat at Murrieta Hot Springs Conference Center. Looking forward to it!

Check out the updated tour dates!

It was so good to meet Cheryl and Rick Ponzo today at Calvary Chapel Fountain Hills! It was a pleasure getting to know them and hearing their stories, not to mention I always love a fellow Italian!  Buon viaggio and enjoy the conference in California Rick and Cheryl 🙂 #AdoreTour2017 #pastorpicsadoretour #fountainhills #az #italianroots🇮🇹