GETTING MARRIED?
If you want to get married in Aldridge Parish Church, then please talk to someone in the church office in the first instance. Their number is 01922 455229 and hours of opening are 9am – 1pm Monday to Friday. Once the marriage has been booked, you will be invited to attend the marriage preparation course

MARRIAGE PREPARATION
Aldridge Parish Church run a marriage preparation course aimed at preparing couples for a lifelong marriage. It is recommended for all those planning to get married at the church but open to others not getting married at Aldridge Parish Church.  It is suitable for those with or without a Christian faith. Based on the course designed by Holy Trinity Brompton, and now operating countrywide, it runs over a period of 5 weeks. After an evening meal, teaching is provided but interspersed with exercises for couples to do together. There is no group discussion other than informal talk over the meal. Before the course commences you will be invited to complete an online questionnaire which gives a snapshot of couple’s individual opinions. For those being married in Aldridge Parish, the cost of the course and questionnaire analysis is included in the fees.

Marriage Course
Aldridge Parish Church runs the Marriage Course each spring. This is aimed at couples who have been married at least 2 years and wish to develop and improve their relationship. It is suitable for those with or without a Christian faith. Based on the course designed by Holy Trinity Brompton, and now operating countrywide, it runs over a period of 8 weeks. Teaching is provided but interspersed with exercises for couples to do together. There is no group discussion.

Marriage Preparation

AIM OF COURSE
The aim of the marriage preparation course is to provide engaged couples with the tools to build a healthy marriage that will last a lifetime.

 Over 5 evenings spent together the couple will:

·         Learn how to make marriage work

·         Consider the importance of commitment

·         Have the opportunity to recognise their differences

·         Learn the skills necessary for their relationship to develop and grow

·         Discuss how to nurture their relationship

·         Learn about listening and expressing feelings, spending time together and resolving conflict

·         Understanding how to make each other feel loved

·         Discuss how to develop their sexual relationship

·         Recognise the importance of talking about goals, values and dreams.

DETAILS
The privacy of the engaged couple is always respected. There is no requirement to disclose anything personal to a third party, but couples are given plenty of opportunities to talk to their fiancée during the discussion times.

The course is designed for engaged couples. While the course emphasises and explains the unique nature of marriage, we welcome couples who are living together and want to explore marriage.

Although the course is based on Christian principles and is led by Christians, it is suitable for those with no Christian faith or church background and couples do not need to be getting married in the church to come on the course. (There is a charge for those not getting married in the church however.)

The course takes place over five evenings. Each evening starts at 7pm and finishes at 9.45pm. It begins with a meal followed by short talks interspersed with exercises and questions for each couple to discuss. There is no group discussion other than the initial informal talk over the meal. On each table for the meal will be up to 3 other engaged couples and a support couple from the church.

Your support couple may not be at the course every evening but they will come as often as they can so that you can get to know them and ask them questions and discuss any issues you may have. If you are involved with another church, we will try to find you a support couple from your own church.

FOCCUS QUESIONNAIRE
We will ask you to complete a questionnaire called FOCCUS that we believe is of tremendous value. The questionnaire helps you to recognise any issues that are useful for you to discuss as a couple prior to marriage. FOCCUS can be completed online and you will be provided with instructions on how to do this. We would stress that this questionnaire is NOT a compatibility test but rather a snapshot of your relationship at the time.

We do not pass your FOCCUS results directly back to you. Instead, you will have an opportunity, over the next four to six weeks, to spend an evening at the home of your support couple to discuss the results normally over an informal meal. Guests on past courses held at other churches have indicated the huge benefit of doing this:

‘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.’

Until you set a date to see your support couple, your results remain completely confidential. They are processed externally without your names on them and are sent to your support couple in sealed envelopes.

Even if you decide not to go through the results with a support couple, there is still great value in doing the questionnaire through the subsequent discussions you have with your fiancée.

FEEDBACK
We do encourage feedback from people attending the course so that we can try to improve to better meet peoples needs on future courses. One couple who recently attended our course said “It has given us a better understanding of what is needed for a successful marriage”.
On the FOCCUS questionaire they commented “It highlighted the specific areas that we need to work on as a couple” . There were many similar comments.

DATES
The next Marriage Preparation Course will run on a Monday evenings in November, starting at 7pm. More information re precise dates will be posted nearer the time. It will be held in the Church Rooms, The Green, Aldridge, located at the end of the road behind Aldridge Parish Church. Those couples who have booked their wedding for 2012 at Aldridge Parish Church or the other churches in the parish will be invited automatically. 
                                                

	Marriage Ministry Co-ordinators & Leaders of the Marriage Course  Alan and Gillian Winser.  If you have any questions please contact them on  alanandgillian@blueyonder.co.uk  or 01543 820080
	The Leaders of the Marriage Prep Course are Martin & Anna Crook. If you have any questions please contact them on martinacrook@googlemail.com
	The Administrator for the Marriage Prep Course is Maria Wilks. If you wish to go on the course please contact Maria on marriage@aldridgeparishchurch.org

Marriage Course

AIM

·         To strengthen and deepen relationships in existing marriages

·         To follow-up marriage preparation couples two years down the line, once the initial tendency to have “rose tinted spectacles” about each other has diminished.

·         To facilitate healing and growth in marriages that are experiencing difficulties and prevent breakdown in those relationships.

·         To provide training for marriage preparation support couples.
 

 DETAILS
The course takes place over eight evenings. Each evening starts at 7.30pm and finishes at 9.45pm. There are short talks interspersed with exercises and questions for each couple to discuss. There is no group discussion. Desert and drinks are provided at the mid point of each evening.

The privacy of the couple is always respected. There is no requirement to disclose anything personal to a third party, but couples are given plenty of opportunities to talk to each other during the discussion times.

Although the course is based on Christian principles and is led by Christians, it is suitable for those with no Christian faith or church background.

DATES
The next course will commence in the spring of 2012 and more information will be posted nearer the time regarding precise dates and venue.

A book stall is provided for those on the course which also carries a selection of leaflets from reputable counsellors should problems arise that couple would like further help with. We, Alan and Gillian, though not counsellors, have done some relationship training and are also available should couples wish to talk through any issues.

 The course evaluation has been very positive with such comments as “we look forward even more to our future together,”
 “We did the course to future proof our marriage,”   “It gave us special time to talk about 'us' without wandering off into practical things.”

CONTACT
If you wish to attend this course and to be informed when dates and venue has been decided please register on marriage@aldridgeparishchurch.org