Vineyard Ottawa hosts marriage seminar in time for Valentine’s Day

Janet Mabie
Spur Ottawa Writer

Chocolates? Flowers? What about investing in your marriage by spending some quality time with God? On February 10 and 11, just in time for Valentine’s Day, Vineyard Ottawa Church will host “Return to Eden”, a two-day marriage conference led by Ellel Ministries Canada. Geared toward couples considering marriage, newlyweds, and couples who have been married for decades, this weekend promises to refresh and encourage.

“Just like any car needs both preventative maintenance and sometimes (when things aren’t working well) a bit of extra help, we believe that marriages need to be maintained regularly if they are going to last,” shares Richard Long, a member of the Vineyard leadership team. “It seemed like a perfect time of the year leading into Valentine’s week for us to host Ellel Canada for this event.”

The opening session reminds couples of God’s original plan for marriage—looking at the very first marriage in the Garden of Eden. “It’s the foundation of our conference to learn God’s design for marriage,” says Allicia Bankuti, Communication Manager at Ellel Ministries. “Once we learn that, everything flows out of that place; understanding the importance of covenants, why God made us the way He did, and understanding why we need healing often.”

The Saturday sessions focus on dealing with hurt, celebrating the difference between men and women, sexual intimacy, and rebuilding trust. Couples trained with Ellel will share how God has restored their marriages, and the conference will close by showing couples ways to have fun together.

“We hope that couples will take fresh hope for their marriage.”

“We try the best we can to not just give tons of information throughout the weekend, but also give couples time to process the information after every session, ask some questions, and then come together,” explains Bankuti. “There is always time to work through something alone with the Lord. We want to make sure that the teaching is not just heard, but applied.”

The organizers encourage couples to take time after the final session to go out, talk about the conference, unpack what they learned, and begin working through things. “Not to just hear it and leave it, but to discuss how to apply what they have learned moving forward.”

Bankuti says all participating couples will also get access to an online marriage course with teaching similar to “Return to Eden” so they can go through the material again at home, and even share it with a small group.

“We hope that couples will take fresh hope for their marriage, that they would leave excited, even if they have to face some hard things,” Bankuti explains. “For some couples, it might be a really hard weekend to work through some of those things, but anytime we give the Lord our time, He is so faithful to show us and to speak to us, to encourage and give insight.”

“Several couples in our congregation have already benefited from materials that Kent and Karen Bandy [the Return to Eden hosts] have created to help marriages, so we know it will be a blessing to anyone who attends,” states Long.

Bankuti adds that COVID-19 has taken a toll on marriages, “but marriage is on God’s heart. It was His idea. The principles of the Bible are what marriage is based on.” She emphasizes that God is the God of the impossible, the God of hope and restoration, the God of miracles.