Listening with love: Renewing Your Relationship
Listening with love: Renewing Your Relationship
An FCE Online Workshop in 4 Sessions
October 17 & 18, 2026
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Nurture your relationship, strengthen your communication, and connect with other couples from the comfort of home.
Nurture your relationship, strengthen your communication, and connect with other couples from the comfort of home.
Join us for the fifth annual Online Friends Couple Enrichment Retreat, a welcoming experience for couples who want to renew and deepen their relationship within a supportive community.
Leader Couples Carol and Rick Holmgren and Dave Diller and Steph Bean will facilitate this retreat. Friends Couple Enrichment is preventive medicine for relationships, not therapy. Through guided activities and private couple dialogue, you'll practice listening and speaking skills that help you become more fully present to yourself, your partner, and other couples.
Because this retreat is online, couples can participate from anywhere without the expense or inconvenience of travel. Although most participants will join from home, we encourage you to make this dedicated time together feel special. You might place fresh flowers near your computer, prepare a favorite meal to enjoy between sessions, or create your own simple ritual that marks the occasion. The details are up to you—the goal is to intentionally set aside meaningful time for your relationship.
This retreat is open to all couples in committed relationships. Same-sex and non-binary couples are warmly welcome.
Schedule
Schedule
The retreat consists of four two-hour sessions over one weekend.
Saturday, October 17
Session 1: 1:00–3:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Session 2: 5:00–7:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Sunday, October 18
Session 3: 1:00–3:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Session 4: 5:00–7:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Because each session builds on the previous one, couples are asked to attend the entire retreat.
After registering, you will receive the Zoom link and additional information.
Cost
Cost
There is no set fee for this retreat. Instead, we invite couples to make a donation of any amount to support the ministry of Friends Couple Enrichment. We suggest $40 per couple, and all donations are tax deductible.
A donation link will appear after you complete your registration. You may also donate now. Under Additional Details, please enter:
"Program Fee – October 2026 Online Workshop."
Curious what an FCE retreat is like?
Curious what an FCE retreat is like?
Read the blog post “What Happens in an FCE Event” by Cathy Walling and Scott Bell for a glimpse into the experience.
WHO ARE THE FACILITATORS?
Dave and Steph attended their first Friends Couple Enrichment workshop 25 years ago. Finding it a wonderful way to enrich their relationship as they began a family together, they committed to becoming a Leader Couple in 2005. They are active Quakers in the Baltimore Yearly Meeting and Adelphi, MD Monthly Meeting.
Carol and Rick Holmgren chose to become a Leader Couple later in life, as they approached retirement. They were among the first cohort of Leader Couples to complete the online, self-paced training initiated in the early 2020s, and have helped usher Couple Enrichment into the world of Online Retreats.
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 Participants Said ABOUT THE
2025 ONLINE RETREAT
What Participants Said ABOUT THE
2025 ONLINE RETREAT
"This is a beautiful way to spend time with your beloved, enjoying time together, and investing in your future."
"The workshop was very meaningful for both of us and helpful in strengthening our relationship."
"The couple's enrichment format offers a wonderful door to respectful and caring communication with partners, friends, and colleagues!"
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