Planning a Marriage Enrichment Event Planning A Marriage Enrichment Event Hmm...so you want to help strengthen marriages and provide a focused time for married couples to learn and share together. Have you considered planning a weekend marriage retreat for your church? It's not as tough as you might think! We've put together some great tips to help you get started. Why Plan a Marriage Festival? A local congregation can help strengthen marriage relations by providing a focused time for married couples to learn and share together. One model for such a gathering is a Marriage Festival. The Marriage Festival provides couples an opportunity to celebrate their unity and purpose in God as husband and wife and to grow in their marriage relationship. Participating couples can develop new relation building skills, decide together on future goals and priorities and reaffirm their commitment to one another. A Marriage Festival is not a group therapy session, rather it is a celebration and learning experience for couples desiring to grow in their marriage relationship. A great "first step" to planning a marriage festival for your local church is attending the annual MarriageFest sponsored each fall by the Leadership Development Team office. For general information on MarriageFest, go to our Annual Events page. Nuts and Bolts Now that you've decided to host a marriage festival in your church, what will it look like? Here are some general ideas to get you started: Marriage festival components could include: banquet workshops worship celebration times prayer Bible study testimonies vow renewal individual couple time Schedule options include: all day Saturday (8:30-4:30) Friday evening (6:30-9:00) through Saturday morning (8:30-11:30) Workshop-general session topics could include: Biblical foundations of marriage Growing together as a couple in Christ Communication Conflict management and resolution Developing our marriage goals-purposes Valuing our differences Handling stress-time management Parenting Finances Sexuality Download these great worksheets suitable for use during workshop times or couple times: (You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can get for free.) Couple Talk Wants and Needs Expectations How Well Do You Know Your Spouse? Leadership Resources A full range of leadership options is available to you! You may wish to call a trained, experience couple to lead your marriage festival. Click here for a list of couples right here in Kentucky who have made themselves available for just such a ministry! You might also choose to create your own unique curriculum or use a popular video series. Here's a list of books, videos, workbooks and more, with links to purchasing options: Click here for a complete list of marriage strengthening resources available for download from this site. You'll find sample church wedding/marriage policies and guidelines, sample retreats and enrichment activities complete with worksheets, vow renewal ceremonies and more. You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download these resources. The Adobe Acrobat Reader download is free. The Five Love Languages by Gary D. Chapman video pack, additional viewers guides and book available from LifeWay Making Love Last Forever by Gary Smalley video pack, book, leaders guide and learners guide available from LifeWay PLUS: a twelve-session interactive workbook is also available in Spanish Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. Zondervan Publishers. Boundaries in Marriage by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. Zondervan Publishers. book and cassette are available through LifeWay;book and workbook are also available on Amazon.com. TeamMates by Bob and Yvonne Turnbull. Beacon Hill Publishers. Toward a Growing Marriage by Gary D. Chapman. Moody Press. After You Say “I Do” by H. Norman Wright. Harvest House Publishers. Strike the Original Match by Charles R. Swindol. Zondervan Publishers. A Lasting Promise: a Christian Guide to Fighting for Your Marriage by Scott Stanley, Daniel Trathen, Savanna McCain and Milt Bryan. Jossey-Bass Publishers. Planning and hosting a marriage festival for your church will no doubt be both challenging and rewarding. If you need further information, contact the Leadership Development Team office toll free in Kentucky at (888) 254-5704 or (502) 254-4719.