- April 25, 2024
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High school sweethearts Debbie and George Pidgeon are using their 38 years of marriage — filled with ups and downs — to help Palm Coast couples reconnect in their own marriages.
As members of New Way Church in Palm Coast, the Pidgeons run a nonprofit called ONE Marriage Ministry, in which they counsel local married couples with the principle that marriage is a covenant, not a contract.
“What makes us different than most marriage counselors … is that George and I come from a way of ‘you can,’" Debbie Pidgeon said. “Your marriage can make it; you can choose the right one — if you do it God’s way.”
After seeing a big demand for marriage counseling within the church, the Pidgeons want to open their services to all of Flagler County. For the first time, ONE Marriage Ministry will hold a free marriage conference open to anyone in the community — single, engaged, married, churched, unchurched, widowed, divorced — who wants practical advice on making marriages work.
The two-hour marriage conference will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, at the church located on 293 Old Moody Blvd.
“We believe that you have 100% chance of making a marriage last if you do it God’s way, where most people go at it with the perspective that we’ll just give it a try,” George Pidgeon said.
The two met and fell in love in Georgia, marrying in their late teenage years.
“We wouldn’t be married today if it weren’t for God — we can honestly say that,” Debbie Pidgeon said. “We’ve had challenges in our marriage, just like any marriage of 38 years. But because we have always put God first in our marriage, we believe … [God] helped us through times that maybe one of us would have quit.”
“Your marriage can make it; you can choose the right one — if you do it God’s way.”
- DEBBIE PIDGEON, Palm Coast resident
The Pidgeons later moved to St. Augustine where George worked as an entrepreneur for about 30 years after serving in the U.S. Army.
“About two years ago, God just said it’s time for you to help in marriages,” George Pidgeon recalled thinking while he and Debbie attended a marriage conference in Texas.
The couple packed their bags and moved to Palm Coast with no reservations. Debbie Pidgeon said they felt called to minister in Flagler County.
The conference will focus on making a marriage last from a biblical perspective, with practical tips on better communicating with your partner and still finding time to date your spouse. They are encouraging singles to attend to learn how to best pick a future spouse.
“Society has taught [singles]: get your list of what you want,” Debbie Pidgeon said. “And we kind of go, ‘Are you the list that someone wants?’ You can’t go hunting if you don’t have the right tools to go hunt with. Are you prepared if that right person comes into your life?”
The conference will also include a skit, as well as notes from New Way Church Pastor Richard Summerlin about how the Holy Spirit should be part of each marriage.
Call the church at 437-9575 to register for the conference.
