Hosting a SALT Marriage Seminar

One of the most frequent requests we receive is from couples desiring help with their marriage or pre-marriage counseling. Because the demand is so great, we host regular marriage seminars. These seminars are always full.

We use the 4 lessons from the SALT Marital book and add some helpful activities after each lesson. Here’s an example of the schedule and the check list we use when we host one of these events on a Saturday.

MARRIAGE SEMINAR
Saturday Schedule

10:00 – 10:15 Registration

• Purchase SALT Marital book
• Get nametag
• Enjoy coffee & donuts

10:15 – 10:30 Welcome and Introductions

• Explain the conference schedule
• Couples introduce themselves (ask: How long have you been married? Or when is your wedding?)
• Give an overview of the SALT discipleship series
• Explain that they can take notes and draw the diagrams during the teachings
• Opening prayer

10:30 – 11:00 Teach or play DVD Lesson #1 “Two Becoming One”
11:00 – 11:05 Couples activity (Facilitators demo) – play music during activity

• Hold hands (Physical Intimacy)
• Tell your spouse 2 things you appreciate about him/her (Psychological Intimacy)
• Pray together -Thank God for your spouse. (Spiritual Intimacy)

11:05 – 11:10 Break
11:10 – 11:45 Teach or play DVD Lesson #2 “Psychological Intimacy”
11:45 – 11:55 Couples activity (facilitators demo) – play music during activity

• Use the communications diagram to share your thoughts, feelings (p. 18) and desires concerning something coming up this week. Listen to each other. Take turns being the listener and speaker.
11:55 – 12:00 Explain what restaurants are nearby or potluck instructions
12:00 – 1:15 Lunch break
1:15 – 1:20 Q & A or Comments about Chapter 1 and 2
1:20 – 1:50 Teach or play DVD Lesson #3 “Spiritual Intimacy”
1:50 – 1:55 Individual activity – play music during activity
• Silent prayer to repent of competing with God or not fulfilling your role.

1:55 – 2:25 Teach or play DVD Lesson #4 “Restoring Intimacy”
2:25 – 2:30 Break
2:30 – 2:45 Do a short teaching on Forgiveness from Social #3.

• Ask forgiveness for something you’ve said or done that you know has hurt your spouse.

2:45 – 2:55 Pray for each couple – play music during prayer time
2:55 – 3:00 Have couples share one main thing they got out of the seminar.
3:00 Dismiss

I think you can see it’s very easy to present a Marriage Seminar by teaching the lessons using the Instructor’s Guide or the Marital SALT DVDs. The testimonies have been incredible from these events.

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About vpaine
Valerie Paine is an author (The Amazing Little Seed and Kids SALT) and the Director of Materials at VCLi. She graduated from Washburn University with a degree in Education. She taught public and private school for 13 years. She graduated from Grace's School of Ministry in Tulsa, OK. She and her husband Fred have been on staff since 1999.