Greg Smalley talks about the Date Night Challenge

Research shows that dating at least once a month significantly improves relationships. The Date Night Challenge is a two-hour event featuring comedian Jeff Allen, singer/songwriter Michael O'Brien and bestselling authors Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley via webcast. During the event, the Smalleys will explain the power of dating your mate and encourage couples to take the "Date Night Challenge": go on three dates in three weeks. This is part of a national "date night movement" where the goal is for 5 million dates to take place across the country during the month of February.

This event is the first date of the challenge! Focus on the Family will then provide free, downloadable materials and content for their next two dates. Then, each month for the next year, couples can download a new, free date night guide that provides content and ideas for their dates.

We want to provide your church with a world-class evening of fun, laughter and entertainment via webcast — all for only $125. This pre-recorded webcast gives you the flexibility to host this event whenever you want until May 31, 2012. Pick your date, set the time and make the event your own!

We are providing all kinds of free materials for you to use to promote this event to your congregation and community. More items will be posted here shortly for you to download. Don't miss our Spanish promo materials!

Customizable Banner

Bulletin Insert

Poster

Print Ad (12x10)

Print Ad (12x21)

Print Ad (94x14)

Web Ad (160x600)

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Power Point Presentation

Bookmark

Table Topper

Pastors, download this video to promote the event among your congregation.

To save the video file to your computer, follow these steps:

1. In Internet Explorer, right-click the video file icon, and then click Save As.
2. In the Save As dialog box, click Desktop in the left pane to save the file to the desktop (or select any folder in which you want to save the file).
3. In the File name box, either keep the existing file name or type a new one.
4. Click Save. Double-click the file to play the video.

For all other browsers, instructions will be shown when you click on the link.

Customizable Banner (Spanish)

Spanish Bulletin Insert

Spanish Poster

Spanish Print Ad (12x10)

Spanish Print Ad (12x21)

Spanish Print Ad (94x14)

When is the webcast event?

When: Anytime until May 31, 2012. You pick the date that works best for your church.
Length: 2-hour event
Cost:$125

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 (until May 31, 2012), 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% of the couples who participated in the Date Night Challenge in 2010 saw an increase in their relationship satisfaction).
• 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, cast the vision for this event and the Date Night Challenge, as well as 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 5 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 webcast entail? What am I getting for $125?

First and foremost, the webcast 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?

The two most important things you can do to make this successful are:

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

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 webcast. 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?

A computer, a projector and high-speed internet.

How will I receive the webcast?

After a church registers, they will immediately receive video download instructions via email

What is the general schedule for the 2 hour event?

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

Technical considerations for video download

(We recommend a member of your church or staff with technical experience review the following information. Also, if you have specific questions about the requirements outlined, you may call us at 1-800-AFAMILY. We'll be happy to assist you in whatever way we're able.)

• A high-speed connection to the Internet (DSL, Cable, or other Broadband connection is recommended with at least 1.5 Megabits/sec download speed). The faster the better and the less time it will take to download the files.
• A local computer (Mac or PC) with the latest version of Adobe Flash Player software installed. Recommended hardware for the best experience:

Windows:

• Intel Pentium4 2.4 Mhz or faster processor, or equivalent AMD CPU
• Minimum 1.0 Gb of System Memory (RAM)
• Windows XP w/ Service Pack 3 (or better, Windows Vista, Windows7)
• Quicktime 7.6.4 for Windows (or higher)

–or–

• Windows Media Player 10 (or higher) with codecs for H.264 video & AAC audio
• A video card in the computer with at least 64Mb of memory (VRAM) that can display 24 or 32-bit True Color at a minimum resolution of 1024x768 at 60hz. Higher video resolutions are strongly recommended, especially if you plan to show it on a video projector or TV.
• Internet Explorer 8.0.x (minimum w/ XP)
• Internet Explorer 9.x (preferred w/ Vista or Windows7)

MacIntosh

• PowerPC G4 Dual 1.25 Ghz or faster processor
• Minimum 1.0 Gb of System Memory (RAM)
• MacOSX 10.3.9 thru 10.5.8 on PowerPC CPU's
• Quicktime 7.5 or higher
• The latest version of Adobe Flash Player (11.1.102.55)

–or–

• Intel Core2 Duo 1.33 Ghz or faster processor (preferred)
• Minimum 1.0 Gb of System Memory (RAM)
• MacOSX 10.4 or higher on Intel CPU's
• Quicktime 7.6 or higher
• The latest version of Adobe Flash Player (11.1.102.55) and a Macintosh video card in the computer with at least 64Mb of memory (VRAM) that can display 24 or 32-bit True Color at a minimum resolution of 1024x768 at 60hz. Higher video resolutions are strongly recommended, especially if you plan to show it on a video projector or TV.
• Firefox 3.6.25 (minimum) Firefox 10.0 (preferred)
• Safari (for Macintosh)
• Current versions of Chrome or Opera may work as well.

Video File Format for the Date Night Challenge

The video files will be Quicktime .mp4 movie files, containing H.264 encoded video & AAC encoded stereo audio. You may use Quicktime, Windows Media Player, or another player of your choice as long as you have the H.264 and AAC codecs and Adobe Flash Player installed for your player.

The video program will be available in 16x9 anamorphic widescreen format and letter-boxed in standard 4x3 TV format. There will be separate files for each format. Please download the correct one for your screen display.