Marriage and the Family

Report by Marie, September 2001

Two years ago the Diocesan Commission for Marriage and the Family developed a new workshop aimed at newly-married couples and couples preparing for marriage. The workshop is all about relationships and covers five topics:

• Expectations of Marriage
• Communication
• Conflict in Marriage
• Solving conflict
• Commitment

These workshops are fun and the emphasis is on building relationships rather than on religious dogma.

The English Martyrs deanery, to which this parish belongs, has recently completed a 2 year pilot scheme. Two teams of four specially trained presenters, themselves married people, have been leading the workshops throughout the two years. The results have been very encouraging. The feedback sheets that were anonymously given back to us showed that all the participants gained something from it.

Much publicity has been given to our current high divorce rate and we all have friends and relatives who have suffered through marital breakdown. Relate and Marriage Care counselling is available for people who are in trouble, but we are trying to reach couples at the beginning of their life together. This workshop has been designed to help them avoid the kind of problems which can lead to relationship breakdown. There is both time to discuss and time to reflect and we hope that in the future these couples will 'grow together' and not 'drift apart'. We are trying to respond to the challenges facing couples today by helping them to feel positive about marriage and by supporting them in their marriages or long-term relationships.