Leading Family Policy Group Initiates Culture Shifting Effort to Restore Marriage
ALEXANDRIA, VA / ACCESS Newswire / October 1, 2025 / The Family Leader, one of the nation's largest family policy organizations, has partnered with Communio to equip evangelical churches to grow by improving marriage and family health across Iowa.
Since 1996, the organization has been working in Iowa and nationally to influence public policy to align with the Gospel and strengthen families. Its leadership has been in talks with Communio since 2024 exploring a collaboration in the Hawkeye state. After a year and a half of strategic planning to ensure the contract meets the needs of churches in Iowa, the two groups finalized an agreement to move forward.
This partnership is only possible because the Family Leader has developed such a strong relationship and network serving more than 2,100 Christian churches across Iowa.
"We're here to speak into the culture through the church. The health of marriages and families lies at the heart of safe neighborhoods and a flourishing society, and it's time for the church to stand in the gap, to help families heal," said Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of the Family Leader. "Communio is doing just that nationwide, coming alongside the Church to restore marriages and heal families. The Family leader is thrilled to partner in this vital work to reach all of Iowa."
The contract prioritizes making this opportunity for all churches encompassed by the Family Leader's Church Ambassador Network. This branch of the organization connects church leaders with government leaders to promote Gospel-oriented policy and to address the needs of their local communities through church-state partnership.
Communio is a ministry that serves and equips local churches to share the Gospel through the renewal of healthy relationships, marriages, and families. Under this partnership, individual churches who sign on to participate will receive tailored support from Communio to meet their unique needs.
"Thrilled about this game-changing partnership with the Family Leader," said J.P. De Gance, Communio's founder and CEO. "They have developed a tremendous influence with pastors both in Iowa and around the nation, because they have been such effective advocates for the Gospel in the public square. We're excited to get to work."
Shepherd of the Valley Church in West Des Moines was the first partner church under this collaboration, and they have tested the Communio approach outlined in the agreement. The Family Leader is investing in efforts to help churches break the bonds that sin has over their state.
Communio participated in the official launch of the partnership at the Family Leader's Breaking Bondage Tour, which brought together church and ministry leaders from across Iowa to encourage collaboration with state government agencies on key issues. Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Health and Human Services Director Kelly Garcia were both present at the September 18 kickoff event and received the inaugural Church Ambassador Network Gospel Partner Awards.
"Government alone simply can't heal the human heart," Reynolds said, per the Family Leader. "That's why this partnership truly matters, because we in this room, we know that bondage is fundamentally spiritual and that no wholeness is possible without God."
The event also emphasized the Church Ambassador Network's mission to present the local church as the main solution to societal issues that lead to the breakdown of the family, a goal that is furthered by collaboration with Communio as a ministry resource to strengthen marriages and families throughout the state.
Communio is a nonprofit ministry that partners with churches nationwide to launch data-informed marriage and relationship ministries. By equipping churches with tools, training, and strategic insights, Communio helps reverse the trends of divorce, family breakdown, and social disconnection-one relationship at a time. For more information about Communio and its initiatives, visit Communio.org.
-30-
Media Contact:
Jon D. Wilke
Jon@alarryross.com
270-293-7818
SOURCE: Communio
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire