Frequently Asked Questions

When is the event?
You pick the date that works best for your church.

Why host the date night?
Let's face it, everyone loves a good time. The Date Night Challenge is a fun way to strengthen marriages and families in your congregation and an inexpensive opportunity to reach out to your community.

• It’s a great evangelism opportunity and way to reach out to your community — invite them to have an evening on you!
• It’s customizable based on the needs of your church: flexible date, provide daycare, make it a dinner or just host an evening of fun entertainment after couples go out on the town.
• It’s a proven way to strengthen relationships: 92 per cent of the couples who participated in the Date Night Challenge in 2010 saw an increase in their relationship satisfaction.
• It’s part of a worldwide movement to challenge couples to put their relationship at the top of the priority list – five million dates are scheduled for February!.
• It’s a simple way to get couples starting to invest in their marriage. Use the event to jump start your marriage strengthening activities for 2012, and then drive couples to other enrichment activities in your church (i.e., small groups, classes, seminar, etc.).

How do I get my church involved?
Get involved by hosting the Date Night Challenge event at your church. If you are a pastor or lay leader that is organizing this event, register your church. If you aren't a pastor or leader, send this page to your pastor(s) and encourage them to participate. If you're willing, tell them that you will even help champion the event!

You can watch the archive of our pastor webcast from November 7, 2011, to hear more about the event. During this webcast, Dr. Greg Smalley, and other pastors, shared the vision for this event and the Date Night Challenge and explained the value of this event for your church.

Focus on the Family invites your church be part of a nationwide date night movement to encourage couples — young and old, singles and married couples, parents and grandparents, Christian or not — to put their relationship on the top of their priority list again. The worldwide goal is five million dates during the month of February. Instead of celebrating for one evening (Valentine's Day), we want to encourage couples to use the entire month of February to rejuvenate their marriage. Wouldn't that be amazing!

Who is the event for? Who can attend?
This event is for all couples in your church and community. They don't have to be married, just interested in growing and deepening in their relationship!

Why is this only $125?
We want this to be affordable and accessible to churches of all sizes. By keeping the cost low, you are then able to invest additional resources in your couples by providing childcare and possibly dinner, dessert or other fun things for the event. We want to empower and equip you as much as we can for this event and program to be a success.

What does the video presentation entail? What am I getting for $125?
First and foremost, the video presentation is going to be a lot of fun! You will get to laugh with Jeff Allen and enjoy the music and entertainment of Michael O'Brien. You will also get to hear from Dr. Greg Smalley as he encourages your couples and explains what it means to have great date nights each month. This will be pre-recorded, so you will be able to show this when and how you want. You will also receive marketing materials that you can download to promote the event.

How do we make this a successful event? How can we promote it to our congregation?
The two most important things you can do to make this successful are:

• Provide childcare for your couples.
• Provide a venue to show the video presentation.

It really is that simple. We're taking care of the entertainment, and you just take care of your couples. If you want, you can provide dinner, or take care of their kids so the couples can do dinner before or after they come to watch the video presentation. You know your couples and community, and we want you to be able to have the flexibility and freedom to make this a success. With the marketing materials, you will also have different ways of promoting the event, both in your church and throughout your community

What equipment do I need to put on this event?
You will need a computer, a projector and high-speed Internet. Download the full End User Requirements document (PDF).

What if we have problems with our internet connection?
The video is not a live broadcast, so it can be downloaded and burned onto a disc. Internet connection is not necessary for playing to video once it’s saved or burned.

How will I receive the video presentation?
The event will be pre-recorded and will then be made available as a download. We will send you an email on or before February 7 with a link that will allow you to download the video presentation. Once you download it, you can then show it whenever you wish, and you will have the ability to pause it for breaks and to accommodate the format within you will be showing the video presentation. Detailed technical specifications will be coming soon.

What is the general schedule for the 2 hour event?

• Introduction from Greg Smalley – 10 minutes
• Comedian Jeff Allan – 40 minutes
• Musician Michael O’Brien – 40 minutes
• Greg and Erin Smalley with Rev. Samuel Rodriguez – 20 minutes
• Closing with Michael O’Brien – 10 minutes