A new marriage preparation course for couples marrying in a civil ceremony through the registrar is being pioneered by local couple Duncan and Janice MacInnes. 

 

Duncan and Janice, from Witard Road Baptist Church, have been in discussion with Norfolk County Council and agreement was reached last summer in time for a pilot course to be run at Norwich City FC in the autumn of last year. 

The Marriage Preparation Course Civil Wedding Edition is an edited version of The Marriage Preparation Course by Nicky and Sila Lee which is currently running in 200 churches across the UK (www.themarriagecourse.org). 

The Marriage Preparation Course is highly practical and seeks to give couples the tools to develop strong foundations for a healthy marriage.  In order to extend its use to help couples having civil weddings, the original course has been edited to remove Biblical references from the DVD and Guest Manual. The edits comprise 16 minutes of the 250 minutes total DVD running time.

 

Duncan said: “We are delighted to offer this edition of The Marriage Preparation Course to couples marrying through the register office who might not otherwise have had the opportunity to receive marriage preparation.”

 

Duncan and Janice are running the new course over five Mondays starting on 20 April at Costa Coffee in the Nelson Hotel, Norwich.  They are also offering the original course on Thursdays starting 26 February at Witard Road. 

 

Janice said: “If you are reading this and know of any couple who are not receiving marriage preparation before their wedding, do get in touch with us or pass our details to them – 07800753134 or marriageprep@hotmail.co.uk  We believe the course offers couples a significantly improved chance of having a marriage that lasts a lifetime.”

 

It is hoped that further courses will be established with other local authorities throughout the UK and Holy Trinity Brompton, London have joined with Care for the Family in an initiative to facilitate this.