Listening with love to Strengthen & Deepen our relationships 


October 12 & 13, 2024

An FCE Online Workshop in four 2-hour Sessions (2 each day)


Saturday, Oct. 12:  Session 1 -- 11 am - 1:00 pm Pacific / 2-4 pm Eastern

Saturday, Oct. 12:  Session 2  --  3-5 pm Pacific / 6-8 pm Eastern

Sunday, Oct. 13:  Session 3 -- 11 am - 1:00 pm Pacific / 2-4 pm Eastern

Sunday, Oct. 13:  Session 4  --  3-5 pm Pacific / 6-8 pm Eastern


Sharon and Tom Baring

Carol and Rick Holmgren

Dave Diller and Steph Bean

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. The 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 retreat consists of four 2-hour sessions, which will be held from 2 - 4 and 6 - 8 Eastern time, on Saturday and Sunday, October 12 and 13. Couples who plan to attend should register by 5pm Eastern time on Thursday, October 10, as registration will close at that time. 


If you have questions, please email 2024listeningwithlove@friendscoupleenrichment.org


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 2024 Online workshop)




WHO ARE THE FACILITATORS?


Sharon and Tom Baring have been married for 26 years and have two grown children, the youngest of whom is a rising senior 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 36 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.


Steph Bean and Dave Diller have known each other for more than 30 years and will be marking their 20th wedding anniversary at the end of this year. They have two boys in high school, plus a grown daughter from a previous marriage, two rescue dogs, and a former farmcat who occasionally deigns to be inside. Both Steph and Dave are active in their local Monthly and Yearly Quaker Meetings in varyin grols. They attended their first Couple Enrichment workshop in 2001 and were trained as leader couples in 2006, while pregnant with their older now-high-schooler. Balancing bod mid-career choices and child-raising, these daily growth opportunities have solidified for us the values of continually striving to remain connected and ingaged in intimate / sustaining relationships (both interpersonal and larger community) in the midst of ever-changing responsibilities. 


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

"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"