Have you heard about The Marriage Course and how couples in our diocese can access it? The Marriage Course was developed in 1996 by Nicky and Sila Lee for couples seeking practical support to strengthen their relationship and stay connected. Then, in 2020, the same crew that wrote and produced the highly acclaimed “Alpha” film series released a new version of The Marriage Course with new teaching content, creative short films, testimony from couples from around the world, and renowned experts – all hosted by Nicky and Sila Lee. At Holy Trinity Brompton Church in London, they debuted the new Marriage Course online, and within the first six months, 10,000 couples had taken it!  A wealthy married couple who took the course shortly after it debuted was so impressed with it that they offered to pay Alpha International whatever they needed to recoup their investment so that they could offer the course for free. Now, The Marriage Course is truly a gift to married couples around the world! The materials have been translated into 45 languages, and more than 1.5 million couples around the world have taken the course. The Marriage Course consists of seven sessions, which feature video content and private couple conversation facilitated by the course journal. Topics covered: Strengthening Connection The Art of Communication Resolving Conflict The Power of Forgiveness The Impact of Family Good Sex Love in Action The Office of Marriage and Family Ministry of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend has hosted The Marriage Course live via Zoom several times in both English and Spanish throughout the past few years. We have also created an online platform so couples can take the course anytime at their own pace in the comfort of their own home: diocesefwsb.org/marriage-course. The course is free, and the only cost involved is the purchase of the course journals, two per couple, from Amazon or other vendors. We have also encouraged and equipped parishes to host the course in person, and it is being offered in a few parishes this fall in both English and Spanish. St. Therese Parish in Fort Wayne will host the course on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. beginning on October 2, and dessert and other refreshments will be served. To register, contact the coordinators, Ken and Jill Metz, at [email protected] or [email protected]. St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Elkhart and Our Lady of Hungary parish in South Bend are offering the course in Spanish. For more information, or to bring The Marriage Course to your parish, please contact our office by emailing [email protected] or by calling 574-234-0687. Lisa Everett is the Director of the Office of Marriage and Family Ministry of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend. Testimony “The weekly topics, the order in which they were discussed, and how the program unfolded were just great. I appreciated Nicky and Sila’s candor in speaking about the challenges in their own marriage. Combining this with the taped interviews of other couples sharing openly about their struggles and how they worked to overcome them was very effective in encouraging us to think deeply about our relationship. This raised our awareness of our own areas of struggle to a fully conscious level as a couple, where we could really work on them. And because the underlying message of the program is infused with faith and hopefulness, we found ourselves discussing even the tough stuff with feelings of optimism and enthusiasm about the ways to overcome our differences. … I have already begun to speak about the program to other couples and will enthusiastically recommend it!” – Anonymous feedback from a couple who took The Marriage Course in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend The post Diocese Offers Free Course to Strengthen Marriages appeared first on Today's Catholic.