Weekend retreats in the Pocono's, Café for Couples, workshops, special sermons, monthly Couple's Relationship Club, and eight week courses in PAIRS - Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills, are all part of the Couple's Ministry at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church. Organized by the Couple's Relationship Team, these regular events are the way our congregation is more than a wedding blessing machine. We are a congregation that supports healthy vitalized relationships. Like all ministries at Upper Dublin, we invite and welcome all people to take advantage of what we offer.

"Café for Couples" is a yearly gathering of folks for a light dinner, enjoyment of music by our band For the Spirit, and the experience of a great speaker in the area of marriage relationships. Café for Couples occurs in even number years, during the summer.

Our weekend retreat in the Pocono's has been a relaxing and delightful get-a-way for couples in the late winter/early spring of odd number years. We present a program to strengthen relationships throughout the weekend. A healthy amount of "down time" is planned so couples have time to reconnect with each other and recharge.

Couple's Relationship Club meets the third Friday of the month at 7:00 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church from October through June. We provide baby sitting. The Team takes turns presenting the evening experience. We've enjoyed 10 Great Dates. Laugh Your Way to a Great Marriage. and Twelve Conversations about Marriage. These experiences are designed so that couples can enjoy as many as they can attend, whenever they can attend.

Relationship Skills Courses are offered. The core skill set of our Couple's Relationship Team is PAIRS. Our team has been trained in this nationally recognized couple's education program that has been tested and demonstrated to make bad marriages healthy and healthy marriages vitalized. October 26 in the evening on all day Saturday, October 27, 2007 we will offer Jump Start, a great introduction to all many of the essential skills of PAIRS. Please contact team member, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   if you would like more information. You can click her name for an e-mail contact. "Relationship Roadmap" is our eight week course in PAIRS and is being offered the Winter of 2008.

The Couple's Relationship Team:

Al and Carol Douglass are certified PAIRS Leaders, supervised by Dr. Rita DeMaria of the Relationship Center. Al is a Co-Pastor of Upper Dublin Lutheran Church. He has been serving congregations, preparing couples for marriage and providing counseling for 35 years. He and Carol have been married for 39 years. Carol has led the Marriage Ministry at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church since 1997. She has taught the Marriage Savers course, led marriage retreats, developed Café for Couples, and convenes the Relationship Ministry.

Lisa and George Clark have been part of the couple's ministry from its inception at Upper Dublin. Their marriage was Al's first official duty as the new pastor in 1995. Lisa and George have both experienced divorce and they have worked through raising George's three children and Lisa's two children building a strong and realistic relationship. George's success in sales comes through in his enthusiastic presentations and Lisa's skills teaching new initiatives to employees shine through her well prepared teaching moments.

Terry and Danielle Yemm were among the first couples to take Dr. Rita DeMaria's Relationship Mastery Program. Working, raising three active daughters and coaching youth sports they found their own relationship stretched. PAIRS provided them with tools that not only saved their marriage. It brought them great joy. Danielle and Terry prepare their presentations with the same discipline they brought to their athletic competitions. Their enthusiasm for equipping couples is contagious.

Articles about relationships are published in our monthly congregational newsletter, Puffs Corner. We keep a blog on the website of these articles, check them out and if you have a question or comment, be sure to respond on line.