How do I Start?

Attend a training conference

If possible, attend The Marriage Conference. The conference is designed to equip you to set up and run a successful course. It also answers your questions and gives you direct experience of how the course works.

The conference covers:

• How to start The Marriage Preparation Course

• The design and content of the course

• Practicalities of running a course

• Using the FOCCUS questionnaire

• Promoting the course

• A model session of the course, giving you firsthand experience of the material

Attend The Marriage Course

Before running The Marriage Preparation course, we suggest that you attend The Marriage Course. This will help familiarize you with the type of material taught on The Marriage Preparation Course. It can also help determine if there are any unresolved issues in your marriage.

Use our online course directory to locate a course running in your area. If there is not a course nearby, you can do the course in your home using The Marriage Course DVD with one or two other couples you know.

Read The Marriage Preparation Course Leaders’ Guide

The Marriage Preparation Course Leaders’ Guide gives step-by-step advice on how to set-up, publicize and run your course. We also suggest that you watch The Marriage Preparation Course DVD to familiarize yourself with the course.

Obtain the FOCCUS questionnaire

We recommend that engaged couples complete a questionnaire called FOCCUS prior to the start of the course. The FOCCUS questionnaire is designed to raise important issues about marriage that an engaged couple may not have considered. Couples who complete the questionnaire tend to benefit more from the course. They absorb more of the teachings and gain more from their conversations with their fiancés(es).

Assemble your team

We recommend that you have one married couple per every 2-3 guest couples. These married couples serve as mentors to their guest couples and are typically referred to as "support couples." Ideally, support couples should be present for all five weeks of the course. However, at a minimum, they should attend the first two weeks of the course. Support couples should have no significant, unresolved issues in their own marriages.

Register and promote your course

Once you have decided when to hold your course, you can register it in our course directory. Registering your course displays your course listing on our website where potential guests can find your course. Every day we get requests from across the country looking for a local marriage preparation course. This course directory allows us direct people to courses in their areas.

Course listings, invitations and posters are great for promoting your course. Oftentimes, personal recommendations are a powerful promotional tool, as well. Most people come on a course because they've heard about it from someone else.