14 | February 2026
Restored Marriage is Result of Church Plant’s Efforts
By Erin Roach, Baptist Press writer
Pastor Darryl Baker and his wife Patrice (left) helped Charles and Brandy Fraley restore their marriage through Change City Church in the Columbus, Ohio, area. Photo submitted
PICKERINGTON, Ohio (BP) – Charles Fraley had walked away from God long ago, and he had even moved out of his house and left his wife and 6-year-old son behind when God drew Brandy Fraley to a marriage class at Change City Church in Pickerington, Ohio, near Colum- bus. With her marriage all but officially ended, she tearfully told Pastor Darryl Baker and his wife Patrice what was happening. “I had seen Change City on a Facebook ad,” Brandy told Baptist Press. She had been looking for a new church earlier this year after being out of church for a while, and she desperately needed God’s intervention in her mar- riage. Charles, a veteran and the grandson of a pastor, agreed to meet with Baker simply to get Brandy to stop men- tioning it. “He listened to my story, and he shared some things about his life with me, which actually made me feel a little better,” Charles said. Even so, the husband was determined to get out of his marriage. “I was angry. I was confused. I was bitter. I was just lost. I was a ship with no rudder,” he said. “While this was going on, I just had no peace. One day, I
was in my son’s room looking at his toys and his bed and everything, and I realized something was really wrong with me and I didn’t know how to fix it,” Charles said. For the first time in years, he prayed. “It was the only thing I knew to do,” he said. Later that day, he heard a voice telling him to go home. Though he didn’t under- stand and didn’t want to go home, he obeyed. The couple started going to counseling and to the mar- riage classes at Change City, and they began to slowly rebuild their relationship, Charles said. “I have to be completely honest. I can’t give any credit to anyone but God because I know where my mind was,” he said. “There was nothing that no man could say to me or do to me to change my course.” Since then, they’ve had bad days where memories resur- face, but their response is to pray, Charles said. “Even if it’s 30 seconds, I’ll pray and just ask for peace and grace and mercy, and everything ends up OK.” Brandy is grateful for the role Baker and his wife played in their story. “When they say, ‘Changing hearts, changing homes, changing cities,’ they mean it,” she said of the church’s mission statement. “They are invested in people, not
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