Listening with love to strengthen And Deepen our relationships
Listening with love to strengthen And Deepen our relationships
An FCE Online Workshop in 4 Sessions
October 21 & 22, 2023
Embedded Files
Sharon and Tom Baring
Carol and Rick Holmgren
Gene Sonn and Jess Walcott
Friends Couple Enrichment invites you to an online retreat for couples desiring to grow their own relationship and to provide a community of support to other couples. It is preventive medicine, not therapy. We will focus on developing and enhancing listening and speaking skills to allow us to be fully present to ourselves, to our partners, and to other couples.
This retreat is for any couple in a committed relationship. Same-sex couples are welcome. This retreat will be held over Zoom, so it is open to any couple in any location with the appropriate technologies, including those with mobility, child-care, health, scheduling, and other challenges.
The workshop will consist of 4 two-hour sessions over 2 days:
Session 1: Saturday, Oct. 21, 11 am - 1 pm PT / 2 pm - 4 pm ET
Session 2: Saturday, Oct. 21, 3 pm - 5 pm PT / 6 pm - 8 pm ET
Session 3: Sunday, Oct. 22, 11 am - 1 pm PT / 2 pm - 4 pm ET
Session 4: Sunday, Oct. 22, 3 pm - 5 pm PT / 6 pm - 8 pm ET
Couples are asked to attend all sessions. The Zoom link and more information will be sent after you register.
Cost: There is no set charge for this workshop, although we welcome a donation of any amount toward the ministry of Friends Couple Enrichment. We suggest $40/couple. All donations are tax deductible. A link for making your donation will appear once you submit your registration. You can also donate now. (Under "Additional Details," please enter "Program Fee. for October 2023 Online workshop)
For a glimpse of what happens in a workshop, read the blog entry "What Happens in an FCE Event" by Cathy Walling and Scott Bell.
If you are still uncertain about whether Couple Enrichment is for you, consider joining us for a 90-minute online "Taster Session."
WHO ARE THE FACILITATORS?
Sharon and Tom Baring have been married for 25 years and have two grown children, the youngest of whom is a rising junior in college. As an extension of their marriage under the care of Chena Ridge Friends Meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska, they have participated in many couple enrichment retreats as well as an ongoing growth group and were trained as a leader couple in 2015.
Carol and Rick Holmgren have been married for 35 years and have twin children, who are now grown. They are active in their local Unitarian Universalist church, where Rick serves on the board and leads Sunday services several times each year. During their lives together, they have benefited from a variety of experiences designed to foster their growth as individuals and as a couple, and they were delighted to discover the depth possible through Friends Couple Enrichment when they attended an FCE workshop in 2019. The skills they learned have helped them strengthen their relationships with each other, with their children, and with their community.
Jess Walcott and Gene Sonn have been a couple for 27 years. Together they are raising two creative independent boys and an energetic rescue dog. They have been part of a Quaker meeting in suburban Philadelphia for 12 years now, but their spiritual roots are in a mission-based Catholic church in Camden, New Jersey. They are thankful that Friends Couple Enrichment taught them a whole new way to communicate with each other, which has also made them better parents. They participate in retreats to continue learning and to be able to share this spiritual practice with other couples.
WHAT IS FCE?
WHAT IS FCE?
Friends Couple Enrichment (FCE) is a ministry arising from the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) with a particular focus on couples in committed relationships. Couple Enrichment workshops facilitated by Friends Couple Enrichment help couples celebrate the joys and strengths of their relationship, and learn new ways to nurture ongoing joy and commitment. Although FCE was founded by Friends, our workshops and event are open to couples of all (or no) religious persuasion. We
What Previous Participants Have Said
What Previous Participants Have Said
"We've attended more than a dozen CE workshops. We keep going back to renew our commitment to each other and experience a rebonding between ourselves and witness the bonding of others."
"We've attended more than a dozen CE workshops. We keep going back to renew our commitment to each other and experience a rebonding between ourselves and witness the bonding of others."
-- "Judith and Jonathan, Ottawa, Canada"
Page updated
Report abuse