About Marriage Matters
Marriage is a matter of growth…
Like many things in life, the Marriage Matters Conference came from humble beginnings. When a small group of believers from Hunt Valley Baptist Church gathered for their first Valentine’s Banquet in 2006, no one could have imagined what God had in mind. After several years of hosting a small Sweetheart Banquet in the gymnasium of their church, Pastor Caleb Bottrell decided to take the banquet to the next level. With nineteen couples at the Eden Resort, the Sweetheart Banquet blossomed into the Sweetheart Retreat in February of 2018. As the retreat grew, other churches in the area asked if they could participate. This led to Pastor Chris Starr and Mt. Zion Baptist Church partnering with Hunt Valley to host a larger and Lord willing, more impactful conference at the Hershey Lodge. After a few years of partnership, God expanded the retreat beyond what anyone had envisioned. In 2023, the first Marriage Matters Conference was hosted with 178 attendees. We are excited to see what God has in store for the future of this conference.
Hosting Pastors
Caleb & Mary Bottrell
Pastor Caleb Bottrell has been married to his wife Mary for twenty-six years. They have five children ranging in age from 14-22 years. Over their twenty-three years in the ministry, they have seen first hand the destruction sin has on the home. Pastor Caleb has always had a passion to encourage couples to maintain a strong marriage centered on God. As the senior pastor of Hunt Valley Baptist Church, his favorite part of hosting the Marriage Matters Conference is “seeing the home building take place right before my eyes.”
Chris & Jenny Starr
Pastor Chris Starr and his wife Jenny have been married for twenty-four years. Through God’s grace, their three children are in Bible college training for God’s plan for each of them. After serving as an assistant to his father for fourteen years at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Pastor Chris was called by God and the church family to become the senior pastor in 2013. His favorite part of hosting the Marriage Matters Conference is “encouraging couples through Christian fellowship and Biblical truths.”