Russ’ Story
I’ve been married to my wife Melody for over 45 years. And while we have a great marriage today, we struggled in our early years. We often laugh about the fact that those 45 years were probably the 35 happiest years of our lives. We know the pain of “being alone together” and feeling like we were losing hope during a rough time in our marriage. We have grown into becoming absolute best friends and life mates with 2 married daughters, wonderful son-in-laws, and 5 awesome grandkids.
A Note From Russ…
Because of our own experience in marriage, Melody and I have a heart for helping people experience the life transforming work of Jesus Christ, especially in their marriages. With over 40 years in pastoral ministry, we’ve seen the breakdown of the family as a result of struggling marriages. While walking alongside these hurting families, we have developed a process to point them to God’s hope of reconciliation through healing and forgiveness.
“Dr. Russ Berg has been a key participant in the Crisis Marriages in Faith Communities Project which I have led for about 2 years through the Minnesota Couples on the Brink Project. Russ has a central focus on marriage issues at this point in his career, and is a leader in the group’s effort to conceptualize the challenges clergy face in helping crisis marriages and developing best practices that can work in the real work of church life. He gets the issues at both professional and personal levels, demonstrating an appreciation of the humanity of all involved in these crisis situations. ”
Education
Bethel University
Doctor of Ministry in Marriage, Family, and Congregational Care, 2000-2014
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Masters of Arts in Educational Ministry, 1990-1995
Certifications & Advanced Training
MN Couples on the Brink Therapists Workshop
University of Minnesota, 2012
Solution Oriented Brief Marriage Therapy Training
Crisis Marriages in Faith Communities Project
Founding Member - 2010
Conflict Coaching & Biblical Conflict Resolution Training
Peace Makers Ministries
Meet John Torkelson, MA, LMFt
John is a graduate of Bethel Seminary receiving a Masters of Divinity in 2009 and a post-graduate certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2011. He is a licensed individual, couples, and family therapist in the state of MN and is trained in family systems, couples counseling, trauma-focused therapy, and childhood trauma. John is passionate about communicating the freedom we can experience, as individuals and in our relationships, through the restoration God wants to bring us when we allow Him to be the center of lives, and focuses on serving families through faith-based discernment counseling.
2 restored
2 Restored is a non-profit ministry seeking to change the global marriage culture by raising up an army of Friends First Responders and by training pastors, priests, chaplains, and professional counselors in the techniques of Faith-Based Discernment Counseling. We believe that there is an alternative to divorce even for the most desperate couples.
Let’s Connect
Are you ready to find clarity and hope in the face of divorce? If you’re seeking next steps in Faith-Based Discernment Counseling for your own marriage or you’re wanting more information on how to be trained as a Friends First Responder, then we’d love to connect with you. Simply complete our contact form and we’ll be in touch to schedule an introductory meeting where you can learn more about next steps.
