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Marriage Seminars
One of the most helpful seminars I ever attended was a marriage seminar at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. My wife and I were invited to a weekend retreat for ministers and their wives. It was conducted by the Intimacy in Marriage organization led by David and Theresa Ferguson. The seminar was well organized, well attended and well received. At the close of the retreat, we were asked to get other couples in ministry involved and do what we could to strengthen marriages in our churches and communities when we returned home.
That retreat and the couple’s classes which followed convinced me there is no better way to attract couples than with marriage seminars. Any church of any size can offer these seminars because organizations such as the Ferguson’s, the Family Dynamics Institute, and Focus on the Family offer engaging video seminars. In fact, the video seminars are at times better than live seminars because of the quality and the flexibility.
After you have chosen your presenter and material, utilize competent members to lead out. Again, this provides a creative way for some otherwise disengaged professionals to become involved in ministry. Encourage church couples to register and bring along another couple. Consider charging a nominal fee for the workshop to cover materials, refreshments, etc. This personal financial investment tends to make couples more serious about the seminar and less likely to be absent. The seminar can be conducted as a one day event or a series. At times it is good to begin with a single event that captures interest and transitions to a series of meetings.
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