The Marriage Preparation Course

What is it?

Over five evenings spent together you will learn important tools that will enable you to make your marriage work.

You will have an opportunity to look at:

• the importance of commitment
• how to recognise and appreciate your differences
• the art of communication
• resolving conflict
• spending time together
• nurturing your friendship
• making each other feel loved
• developing a good sexual relationship
• the importance of talking about your goals, values and dreams

The evenings are very relaxed. There are snacks and drinks followed by short talks interspersed with exercises and questions for you to discuss together as a couple.

Who is it for?

The Marriage Preparation Course is for any engaged couple who wants to develop strong foundations for a lasting marriage. It is for any engaged couple who wants to work at having the best possible start to their marriage.

It doesn't matter how long you have been engaged - some couples have set a wedding date, while others have not. We also find couples who have been living together for a while use the course to explore the idea of getting married. The course is based on Christian principles for relationships and is run by Christians but it is suitable for people with or without a church background. You do not need to be getting married in a church to come on the course.

What’s involved?

The course takes place over five evenings.

A typical evening starts at 7pm and finishes by 9.45pm. Each evening includes:

A meal where you will probably sit together with two other engaged couples and a married couple known as a

The Marriage Book

The Marriage Book by Nicky and Sila Lee is full of practical advice and is designed for engaged and married couples. The Marriage Preparation Course and The Marriage Course are based on The Marriage Book. You don’t need the book to run a course, but we do recommend it as an overview of both courses.

ISBN 1.904074.55.3

Price: £5.99

The Marriage Preparation Course Registration Form

It would be a great help if you could fill in this form to let us know that you would like to attend.

You may also contact the Church office directly by telephoning :

01803 522541 (Mornings Only)

We can be contacted by post at the following address:

Preston Baptist Church
Old Torquay Road
Paignton, Devon
TQ3 2RB

How to buy the Marriage Book

By phone:

08457 581 278 (UK)

+44 (0) 1228 611 749 (International)

By email:

alpha@stl.org

‘support couple’ (they will be your hosts for the course). You can chat to the others or just use the time to talk to each other. At no time on the course will you have to disclose anything personal to anyone else.Each evening a live talk is given or a video of the talk played. The talk is broken up with opportunities for you and your fiancé(e) to talk through the issues raised as a couple.

Before the course starts you will be asked to complete a questionnaire called FOCCUS. This questionnaire will ask about different aspects of your relationship. It is not a test nor is it a predictor of whether your marriage will succeed or fail. It is a tool to help highlight any important issues that you would benefit from discussing before you get married.

Support couples

You will be introduced to your support couple on the first evening. They will be a married couple who have been married for at least two years. They will invite you to a meal at their home. You will have the opportunity to talk through any issues that have been raised by the course or through the questionnaire. Again, this is by no means compulsory but has been greatly appreciated by many couples.

What’s the cost?

A basic charge is made to cover the cost of the meals and materials.

What people say

“Discussing new issues was a challenge, yet very rewarding and I feel drew us closer together. It was interesting to find that with most issues we had not yet discussed we had the same feelings.”

“Without a doubt talking over the issues was beneficial to us. We have really tried to do things differently and put each other first.”

“We found that many issues we'd never thought about discussing came up when we did Marriage Prep. We thoroughly enjoyed the course and gained so much practical advice from it that I believe we will use for years to come!”

“It was an excellent way of making clear the differences between us and getting us to discuss it further in a good way. We know we have areas we need to work on, but we are very aware of them and how we can handle them.”

“I believe that the course is great and it exceeded all my expectations. Thanks very much for getting our marriage off to a great start.”

At the end of each session you are given some homework to do together. This will help you to build on what you have learnt and give you the opportunity to apply it to your relationship. Don't worry, it won't be marked! It isn't looked at by anyone else and is just for your own benefit.

It is by no means compulsory to complete the questionnaire but most couples find it very useful. Once you have completed it you will have the opportunity to discuss the results with your support couple.

      © 2008 Preston Baptist Church                                                                                           Designed by David Lloyd-Hoare Bsc(Hons)