First Baptist Church Richardson went without a marriage ministry several years. In 2024, Pastor Ronny Marriott decided it was time to make a change.
First Baptist is working in partnership with nonprofit Communio, a ministry that “trains and equips churches to share the gospel through the renewal of healthy relationships, marriages, and the family.”
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While at First Baptist Church Burleson, Marriott had the privilege of working with the nonprofit before and during COVID-19.
Marriott said the partnership with the nonprofit started just before the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to come up with strategies to meet the needs of the community.
“Their focus is on helping marriages that are in trouble. So. they are really about strengthening marriage in churches and the community,” said Marriott, president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
“They have had success doing that in other states. So, we were approached to be a pilot church in our area, and they provided grant money to help us launch this. With direct marketing, they were able to help us pinpoint marriages struggling in our community.”
When COVID-19 hit, Communio assisted the church with meeting digital needs and event hosting for engagement.
“We did virtual date nights. You could sign up and have cooking segments. We had comedians. We couldn’t go out or go to restaurants,” Marriott said.
When the pandemic ended, the church hosted date nights on Wednesday nights and taught line dancing.
“One night, we even did a murder mystery night,” Marriott said.
“So, our goal was to get people on campus to go, ‘OK, these guys can have fun.’ We hit them with a sermon. We did a little bit. Our thing was, ‘Hey, we do this because God loves you, and so do we, and we would love to have you join us for Sunday worship.’”
Marriott hopes that engagement with First Baptist Church Richardson and Communio will assist in decreasing divorce and family violence rates.
A missional church
First Baptist Church Richardson is more than 160 years old. Marriott said that a church of this age comes with its challenges.
“Churches of that longevity can struggle to become institutionalized and over-programmed. So, trying to move us to be a more mission-minded church,” Marriott said.
Support from Communio helped the church host events like the one during Christmas and Easter events in 2024 and 2025.
“We did a big thing at Christmas. We do a big musical and a snow day for families and kids. We had bounce houses and fake snow,” Marriott said. “Saturday during Easter weekend we had an ‘EGG-stravaganza.’”
The church’s Christmas musical, Carols, attracted 200 more attendees than the previous year due to efforts to distribute a record-breaking 6,000 door hangers, connect with neighbors and build a presence in the community.
After the Easter weekend event, more than 1,000 people showed up, including many who were not church members.
The Communio strategy for the church is to connect with families at least seven times. The same families brought their children to events at First Baptist in Richardson, which led to more families, friends and loved ones showing up.
The relationship building that took place would often lead to attending Sunday morning worship and consideration for membership.
“We just want to get them on our campus. And it gives us a database of prospects, and it gives us a chance to reach out,” Marriott said.
The events serve as an opportunity for the congregation to reach out to guests and invite them to classes on topics related to support for personal matters like finance and familial issues.
“Everything we do, inviting these couples, connects to something else. If they are on campus and they meet our people, they find this is a safe place to be,” Marriott said.
Reflecting on one year in Richardson
Marriott celebrated one year as pastor in Richardson on Aug. 4. At age 60, his years of experience taught him that time and patience is essential when leading a church through change.
“When I was in seminary, they really encouraged you, when you go to a new church, spend the first year building relationships and don’t make any changes,” Marriott said.
“I was at my second church to pastor, and I had a deacon come to me a month in and say: ‘You know, I’m sure they probably told you that you need to ease in, but we’ve been waiting for you for two years. We want you to go.’ So, I changed my philosophy. Take advantage of that honeymoon. Just don’t do anything crazy.”
Marriott did a listening tour with small groups within the congregation to gauge the hopes and dreams of the members. He led by example with a wife who is eager to relate to the members.
“My wife is very extroverted, so we do a lot of stuff as a couple. She’s out greeting people every Sunday just to get to know them, open up our home, that kind of thing. So, we try to build on those relationships as we get down the road,” Marriott added.
As Marriott continued meeting with the congregation, he was asked about the vision of the church.
“When God tells us, we will know that. But let’s discover that together. And I find out by asking a lot of questions: Why do we do this? Is there a better way to do it? And what do we need to stop doing?” Marriott said.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Kendall Lyons and originally published by Baptist Standard.
