Registration has now closed. The Summer term will run from 26th April to 24th May, and registration will open on this page in mid-February.

The Marriage Preparation Course is designed for engaged couples wishing to build a strong and lasting relationship.

While based on Christian principles, it is relevant and helpful for any engaged couple with or without a Christian faith or church background.

There is no group discussion and no requirement to disclose anything about their relationship to anyone else.

Nicky and Sila Lee have been married for over 30 years and speak regularly on relationships and marriage preparation. They are co-authors of 'The Marriage Book'.

Topics covered include:
• Communication
• Commitment
• Resolving conflict
• Keeping love alive
• Shared values

Bursaries are available, please contact us and we will be pleased to discuss this option.

The course begins with supper, followed by a talk and an opportunity for discussion. Privacy is respected, there is no group work, but there is always the chance to discuss issues with a married 'support couple' if they wish.

We also ask you to complete a questionnaire called FOCCUS (Facilitate Open, Caring, Communication, Understanding and Study) 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. Since training is required to interpret the results, we do not pass the results back to you directly. Instead we offer you the opportunity to meet with your support couple over dinner to discuss any issues. FOCCUS is completed on-line. We will email you details of the questionnaire and a link to the website two weeks before the start of the course.

Please also note that due to the large number of engaged couples who register onto this course we cannot guarantee that everyone will be able to have a Support Couple that can attend the actual course or take each engaged couple through their FOCCUS questionnaire.

If your church has a couple who are trained FOCCUS facilitators, they will be your support couple for the course.

If you would prefer to order the course DVD and workbooks online, in order to work through the material in your own time, please see our website: www.alphashop.org

There are also other Marriage Preparation Courses taking place in other parts of the UK and overseas. Please check our website for the full listing: www.relationshipcentral.org/

What people have said:

'The first session was absolutely amazing. We discovered things about each other that we had not realised in the three years we've been together.'

'We had issues that both of us were too scared to bring up, but did during the course.'