With a catch phrase of ‘rekindle the fire’, the Celebrate Love seminar for married couples promises to spark up marriages that have been over run by the demands of parenting and career. It’s a formula that is enjoying considerable success, with over 140 couples across three states participating in a Seminar in 2004.
To meet the growing demand, National directors and co-authors, Byron & Francine Pirola, convened an intensive training weekend on the threshold of Valentine’s Day and Marriage Awareness week. Sixteen couples converged onSydney, travelling fromPerth,Melbourne,Newcastleand regional NSW to join localSydneycouples for the event.
“Normally, we train our presenters in an apprentice-ship system, where couples are coached individually over the course of three or four seminars” say the Pirolas. “This has been fine to date, but our rapid expansion to remote areas has made this more difficult. We needed to accelerate the induction of our presenters so that we could meet the immediate needs for seminars scheduled for the coming year. An intensive weekend was the best way to do this, and it also had the benefit of helping us develop a sense of common mission across the national network. For most of the couples attending, the opportunity to meet the other presenters, was a real highlight.”
Michael & Tricia Casey of theCentralCoastplayed an important role in the training programme. They recounted how Celebrate Love had provided a break through in their relationship: “When we did the Seminar six years ago, we were a typical married couple – we were happily married, but had ‘settled’. We didn’t realise that there was so much more intimacy and joy available to us. The seminar was like fresh start for us. It was just too good not to share.” Michael and Tricia were responsible for sensitising the presenting couples to issues relating to the duty of care and to developing a service mentality among the Celebrate Love team.
Presenters, Luke & Vanessa Van Beek ofPerth, describe the seminar as being very timely, for their own relationship, and for society generally. “The power of Celebrate Love is that it equips you to view everything through the lens of sexuality. We are so much more conscious of the sexual atmosphere between us on a daily basis. It’s also helped to expand our appreciation of how important sexuality is to a healthy marriage. With marriages breaking down in large numbers, the message of Celebrate Love for society is urgent.”
For new presenters, James & Tricia Button, Celebrate Love was not just about improving their marriage. “The CL seminar was great for us, giving us practical tools for our relationship. The unexpected bonus was that it started me [James] on a journey to become a Catholic. When we saw how shared faith was such a gift to the other couples, we decided to explore the issue, and with the support of CL community, I was received into the Church last year.”
The weekend included input on the roles and responsibilities of presenters, video coaching in presentation skills by a professional speech and drama trainer, and the writing and workshopping of talks. Fr Vince Casey of Chatswood parish, affirmed the couples for their role. “The people of the Church urgently need the message of Celebrate Love. The Church is becoming increasingly irrelevant to them and you are important in helping calling people back into the truth and beauty of God’s plan for marriage.”
