Dennis and Barbara Rainey
To God be the glory
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
—Ephesians 3:20-21
Dennis and Barbara Rainey pursued a calling in 1976. Now, 43 years later, that calling is a lasting legacy.
The Early Years
When God ignited a passion in young Dennis and Barbara, He lit a wildfire.
Newly married and passionate about building godly homes, this Campus Crusade for Christ staff couple started “The Marriage Preparation and Family Emphasis” in 1976. That soon became FamilyLife®.
And build godly homes they did. What began as conferences for Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) families quickly expanded to the general public, and what is now FamilyLife’s Weekend to Remember® was born. Dennis and Barbara have spoken at more than 150 marriage getaways, and the events have reached approximately 3 million couples around the world.
Far-Reaching Dreams
God continued to stir dreams and desires in the Raineys. By the early 1990s, they launched FamilyLife Today®, a daily Christian radio program, which dramatically increased the reach of the ministry globally. In the first 10 months, the program grew into 50 stations with more than 200,000 weekly listeners, eventually drawing additional ministry partners to FamilyLife.
As host, Dennis was dedicated to biblical advice and scriptural support. Dennis and Barbara shared openly about their marriage and family; their authenticity drew increasing numbers of listeners to the broadcast. To put it simply, listeners loved the Raineys.
But the radio industry loved the Raineys too. Over the last 25 years, FamilyLife Today has received the National Religious Broadcasters Radio Program of the Year Award three times, the first program ever to do so. Today, the show can be heard in all 50 states on more than 1,300 outlets. In its Spanish translation, Vida en Familia Hoy®, it is heard more than 700 times a day across 36 countries.
Soon, FamilyLife had a global presence well beyond radio in 109 countries including Canada, South Africa, Kenya, South Korea, New Zealand, Fiji, the Philippines, and England.
God was doing great things, and He wasn’t finished with Dennis and Barbara Rainey yet.
Every Home
What Dennis and Barbara preached, they practiced. Raising their own six children fueled an insatiable desire to see more homes reached and gave the Raineys much experience in the day-to-day challenges of marriage and parenting.
Out of those parenting experiences were born Passport2Purity®, Passport2Identity®, Resurrection Eggs®, and many more hands-on, biblically-grounded products to guide parents in the right spiritual direction with their children. No doubt tens of thousands of parents are thankful for the Raineys and these resources that have guided them through each stage of parenthood—including the scary topics like the birds and the bees and homosexuality.
An exhaustive list of the Raineys publications would include more than 49 books and small-group studies. Some of the most well-known include Moments Together for Couples and Moments With You devotionals; HomeBuilders Couples Series® and HomeBuilders Parenting Series® small-group studies; and Barbara’s recent best-seller, Letters to My Daughter: The Art of Being a Wife (Bethany House, 2016).
“When our sons and oldest daughter got married . . . I began writing short emails with some of the most important lessons I’d learned about being a wife, which became this book eight years later,” shares Barbara. “My goal is to help women view their marriage as a work of art, to believe God for what often feels impossible, and to expect Him to guide them personally by His Spirit with a beautiful result only He can create.”
And for Barbara, art is not only a metaphor. She has personally created a lovely and God-honoring home decor line, Ever Thine Home®. “We are trying to create beautiful products that help women communicate their faith at home and to their community. We want to provide unique, creative ways to get children, moms, and dads into the Scriptures together,” says Barbara.
Now with grown children, the Raineys turned their attention to sharing parenting wisdom with the next generation through the oversight and leadership of Like Arrows, a feature film that premiered May 2017, and FamilyLife’s Art of Parenting™, an online and small-group study.
A Forever Legacy
There’s no way we can mention it all here, folks. The Rainey footprint is larger than life and larger than this page can hold. The Rainey footprint, squarely inside their Savior’s footprint, no doubt spreads around the world and into eternity.
Former FamilyLife board chairman Scott Beck summed it up: “The Raineys have given their hearts, souls, and everything they have to pour into the ministry of FamilyLife. Through their sacrifice, millions of families have been changed—and will continue to change—forever.”
Dennis and Barbara Rainey have stepped out of leadership at FamilyLife, but they are not retiring. They will continue to serve with Cru (FamilyLife’s parent organization) and passionately fulfill their mission as ambassadors for Christ and the family. To find out more about their work, visit DennisAndBarbara.com.
