About Dr. EMERSON EGGERICHS  

Dr. Emerson Eggerichs had the privilege of studying the Bible thirty hours a week for nearly twenty years as the senior pastor of a thriving church in East Lansing , MI . During that time of study, he made an extraordinary discovery about the secret of communication between husbands and wives.  Emerson crafted a unique message to share with couples, and in 1999, he left the pastorate to launch Love and Respect Ministries and to devote fulltime to building healthy marriages.

 Emerson and his wife, Sarah, have been married since 1973, and the principles they apply have worked powerfully in their own marriage. Both came out of families that have experienced much divorce.  They know first hand what hurts a marriage, but they also know the ingredients for strong marriages. For the past five years, Emerson and Sarah have presented their unique message to thousands of couples at Love and Respect marriage conferences nationwide. 

Emerson received his B.A. in Biblical Studies and an M.A. in Communications from Wheaton  College and Graduate school. He was later awarded his Masters in Divinity from Dubuque Seminary, and he earned his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in Child and Family Ecology.  He has served on the board of the National Center for Fathering, and is on the board of the Michigan Family Forum. He has also served on the committee for Michigan’s Year of the Child and Family with the state’s Lieutenant Governor.  

Emerson was the senior pastor of East Lansing Trinity Church for nearly 20 years.  The church grew in attendance from 450 when he arrived to more than 2000 when he left to devote full time to serving husbands and wives.  He is the president of Love and Respect Ministries.

 Emerson and Sarah have three adult children and make their home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Visit his website at www.loveandrespect.com.

Title: Love & Respect
Publisher: Integrity Publishers
Release Date: September 2004
Author: Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, President of Love and Respect Ministries

We Know Marriages Need Love—But What About Respect?

New Book Unveils a Revolutionary Secret for Husbands and Wives

(Nashville, Tenn., September 2004) – One key word can revolutionize any marriage according to Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, author of the new book Love & Respect.  Eggerichs says happiness and harmony are not achieved by love alone.  Yes, love is vital, especially for the wife, but the author says, a husband’s need for respect is equally important-he is designed to need respect.

 For the past 25 years, we have heard much about love, but the divorce rate among evangelicals has continued to rise.  Eggerichs says, “The major problem, which I heard from wives, was ‘He doesn’t love me.’ Wives are made to love, want to love, expect love.  Many husbands fail to deliver.  But as I kept studying Scripture and counseling couples, I finally saw the other half of the equation.  Husbands weren’t saying it much, but what they were thinking was, ‘She doesn’t respect me.’ Husbands are made to be respected, want respect, expect respect.  Many wives fail to deliver.”  As a result, two good-willed people end up on what Eggerichs calls the Crazy Cycle: without love she reacts without respect, without respect he reacts without love—it is a painful, negative cycle that has thousands of couples spinning out of control.  

Through extensive biblical and psychological research, the former pastor discovered this often overlooked, if not ignored, truth in Ephesians 5:33. The Apostle Paul writes, “Nevertheless let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see to it that she respect her husband.”  Eggerichs is helping women discover that they can fulfill their deep need to be loved by giving their husband what he most needs—respect.     

Love & Respect is divided into three main sections:

§      The Crazy Cycle explains the simple reason why two good-willed people negatively react to each other;

§      The Energizing Cycle explains how two people can positively motivate one another by doing one simple thing; and,

§      The Rewarded Cycle unveils the rewards of a godly marriage and explains what a person can do if personal expectations are unmet by a spouse.  

Eggerichs left the pastorate to launch the Love and Respect Conferences in 1999, convinced that these truths could restore, strengthen and improve any marriage relationship.  He and Sarah, his wife of 30 years, have shared their message with thousands of couples, and receive confirmations daily that it is working.  In fact, Eggerichs outlined the unique “Love and Respect” message to Dr. James Dobson’s Focus on the Family radio audience last year.  His message garnered Focus on the Family’s highest number of listener responses and became their most requested broadcast of 2003.

Love & Respect contains a revolutionary message that is already helping couples to achieve intimacy like never before.

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Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs

Integrity Publishers, September 2004, ISBN: 1-59145-187-6

Hardcover, 6 x 9, 328 pages, $21.99