Marriage is the most challenging of all human relationships. Whether you’re navigating a divorce or determined to take your marriage from okay to great, Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL) offers workshops that can help.

Marriage Matters

“Marriage Matters is a workshop designed for couples and married individuals who want to enrich, restore, or make a significant investment in their marriage,” says Gayle DiMartino, director of the marriage ministry at Willow Creek. Participants are equipped with practical tools to handle marital difficulties, resolve ongoing struggles, and identify next steps for spiritual and emotional growth.

“Our desire,” says Gayle, “is that they experience the kind of healthy marriage relationship God intended.”

Divorce Recovery

For people who have experienced the pain of a marital or relational breakdown, the Divorce Recovery workshop offers practical support.

“Divorce Recovery helps participants by giving them information and tools to resolve challenges and identify next steps, so they can move toward emotional, relational, and spiritual healing,” Gayle says.

What Happens in a Workshop?

Both workshops utilize a similar format: 30 minutes of large-group teaching on a different topic each session, followed by a 90-minute small-group discussion. “The groups are a safe place where individuals and couples can learn from one another’s experiences and provide support to one another,” says Gayle. Groups are facilitated by trained leaders who have been through the same type of marital or divorce struggles that participants are experiencing.

Designed for Individuals and Couples

“While it is helpful if both spouses attend the Marriage Matters workshop together, it is not essential,” Gayle says. “And Divorce Recovery is filled with a mixture of divorced or separated individuals as well as couples whose marriage is in a place of struggle. Individual growth and personal healing can be gained in either workshop, so we encourage people to come, whether or not their spouse is joining them.”

Oasis Helps the Children

Couples or individuals attending Marriage Matters or Divorce Recovery can enroll their children in Oasis—a ministry designed to give care and support to kids affected by their parents’ relational breakdown. Oasis runs concurrently with both adult workshops. Registration is required.

To learn more about Willow Creek’s marriage ministry, go to willowcreek.org/marriage.