A team of marriage and family experts gathered in Lynnwood, Wash., to present From This Day Forward, a one-day celebration of marriage commitment dedicated to encouraging stronger and healthier marriages and families.
"It is very important for couples to commit to spending a day together with fellow believers to help strengthen marriages," says Wilma Bing, Washington Conference family life director. "Marriage conferences—such as From This Day Forward—allow couples to reconnect, re-energize and recommit."
Couples learned strategies for keeping their marriage strong from experts Willie and Elaine Oliver, from the North American Division; Mike and Gayle Tucker, from Faith for Today; and Allen and Deirdre Martin from dre.am VISION ministries.
The practical, professionally sound, and Biblically bound journey featured the basics of collaborative dialogue, communication skills, couple intimacy, and secrets to a strong and loving marriage. Besides the presentations, couples were given time to process the information one on one.
From This Day Forward is a nationally presented marriage conference. The Seattle-area conference was a joint effort of the North American Division, North Pacific Union Conference and Washington Conference.
According to Oliver and his team, the Lynnwood, Wash., conference was the best attended conference the North American Division conducted in 2008. More than 65 couples were in attendance.
More than 65 couples attend a marriage conference in Lynnwood, Wash. (Jonathan Baumgartner)
