Marriage Enrichment Opportunities
A friend of mine asked me for suggestions for marriage retreats or conferences in the area. I wrote one of our members, Dr. Matt Turvey, who is more in the know on this than anyone else I know. Here's what he pointed out. Thought it might be helpful for any of you looking for a good marriage building resource.
Henry,
Great to hear from you. Not knowing if this couple is looking for enrichment, crisis intervention, saying it’s enrichment when it’s really crisis intervention, or what, I’ll give you a few options.
Eagle Brook may be having their retreat sometime soon. They could call and check with them. I think it’s coming up in October or a bit later.
Family Life doesn’t come back until March ’09.
Every month the marriage ministry at Living Word does a Friday night MarriageMatters (first one was on 9-5-08). ...I love their marriage pastor over there. He’s solid – and the program is great. Nicole and I “tested” it out last year....
Later this month there’s a “Dynamic Marriage” class starting at the Lakes EV Free church in Lindstrom (and several that are closer start a bit later). This is put on by local facilitators trained by the Family Dynamics Institute. It’s a neat group with some great, biblically sound material (in my opinion). They can click on http://www.familydynamics.net/seminarschedule.htm?sch=dmc to see the schedule of other local classes. It’s not a retreat, but 8 weeks of teaching. This group also has a weekend format that is great – but usually it’s for couples who are struggling a bit. So take your pick. This one is called “New Beginnings”.
Another suggestion, more self-guided, is to utilize the “Vision Retreat” guidebook put out by MarriageToday. It’s a small notebook with lots of Scripture, open questions, and a guided format for couples to take their own retreat, prayerfully focus on their marriage, and take it to the “next step.” Nicole and I did one of these last year…we loved it. ...They can get one of these through the bookstore at www.marriagetoday.org. It’s just $15, and then they can find a nice secluded B&B or hotel or camp and spend some serious time in prayer and conversation. I don’t recommend this first off if the couple is having some difficulties. But, if this is for enrichment, then this is great.
Hope this helps a bit.
Matt
Matthew Turvey, Psy.D., LP
Director of Strategic Alliances
Life Innovations
Great to hear from you. Not knowing if this couple is looking for enrichment, crisis intervention, saying it’s enrichment when it’s really crisis intervention, or what, I’ll give you a few options.
Eagle Brook may be having their retreat sometime soon. They could call and check with them. I think it’s coming up in October or a bit later.
Family Life doesn’t come back until March ’09.
Every month the marriage ministry at Living Word does a Friday night MarriageMatters (first one was on 9-5-08). ...I love their marriage pastor over there. He’s solid – and the program is great. Nicole and I “tested” it out last year....
Later this month there’s a “Dynamic Marriage” class starting at the Lakes EV Free church in Lindstrom (and several that are closer start a bit later). This is put on by local facilitators trained by the Family Dynamics Institute. It’s a neat group with some great, biblically sound material (in my opinion). They can click on http://www.familydynamics.net/seminarschedule.htm?sch=dmc to see the schedule of other local classes. It’s not a retreat, but 8 weeks of teaching. This group also has a weekend format that is great – but usually it’s for couples who are struggling a bit. So take your pick. This one is called “New Beginnings”.
Another suggestion, more self-guided, is to utilize the “Vision Retreat” guidebook put out by MarriageToday. It’s a small notebook with lots of Scripture, open questions, and a guided format for couples to take their own retreat, prayerfully focus on their marriage, and take it to the “next step.” Nicole and I did one of these last year…we loved it. ...They can get one of these through the bookstore at www.marriagetoday.org. It’s just $15, and then they can find a nice secluded B&B or hotel or camp and spend some serious time in prayer and conversation. I don’t recommend this first off if the couple is having some difficulties. But, if this is for enrichment, then this is great.
Hope this helps a bit.
Matt
Matthew Turvey, Psy.D., LP
Director of Strategic Alliances
Life Innovations