To hear Sylvia Knoch describe it, marriage retreats and seminars aren't a sign of a bad marriage. If anything, they're more like regular checkups.
If you're driving your car, do you not service it? You put oil in it because if you didn't, it wouldn't run. We should be proactive to take steps to work on our marriages daily if we want them to be healthy," she said.
Knoch has attended a seminar each year with her husband, and wanted to provide members of her community the same opportunity.
One of the biggest drivers behind the resultant marriage seminar being hosted by her church, Hixson Seventh-day Adventist, was Knoch's awareness of how expensive such retreats can be. The one she attends with her husband every year, hosted by the Georgia Cumberland Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, can cost couples nearly $400, she said. That's why the upcoming local seminar is completely free and open to the public, both to married couples and unmarried people alike.
The seminar is June 23-24.
"We wanted to do this as a benefit and service to our community," Knoch said. "It will be a good time to connect with your spouse or the people around you."
This is the second year the church has hosted such an event. This year, Knoch and the rest of her volunteers are bringing in Rick and Cindy Mercer, couples counselors from the Carolina Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
The couple runs Mercer Ministries, an organization dedicated to showing couples a faith-based method of communicating and overcoming their struggles. The Mercers have firsthand experience. According to their website, before becoming a minister, Rick Mercer grew distant from his wife through drugs and alcohol. How they overcame their hardships and rebuilt a happy foundation for marriage will be the topic for the seminar.
Knoch said she's been trying to coordinate a time with the Mercers' busy schedule to bring them to Hixson for nearly two years.
"They're very practical and down to earth. They'll share their story and I think people will be able to relate. They're going to share what I think everyone needs to know," Knoch said. "All of our relationships can always be better."
The three-and-a-half-hour seminar starts June 23 from 7-8 p.m. and continues at 11 a.m. June 24. Lunch will be served. RSVPs are recommended.
To RSVP, contact Sylvia Knoch at 544-4382, or Hixson Seventh-day Adventist at 386-5451. The church is located at 6424 Hixson Pike.