Marriage Matters is the website of the Church of Ireland Marriage Council.

The Marriage Council was set up by the General Synod in 1996 to support and develop the church’s role in supporting marriage and family life.

Since then it has...

• Developed Marriage Matters, a one evening marriage enrichment course for delivery by a network of trained facilitators.

• Provided training days on marriage for clergy in nearly all dioceses.

• Run two important conferences on Marriage Today and Second Relationships.

• Produced Towards Marriage, a Marriage Preparation Resource Handbook for clergy and church workers.
  

• Set up a network of 5 trained counsellors to provide marriage preparation for couples on a one-to-one basis, and counselling for those whose marriages have run into difficulty.

Both marriage preparation and marriage counselling in the Republic are subsidised by the Marriage Council, thanks to a generous grant from the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs.

The Marriage Council is appointed biennially by General Synod, and includes representatives of The Mothers’ Union, Christian Guidelines and The Church of Ireland Board of Social Responsibility (NI). A new Council was elected by General Synod 2004.

Click here to read the full remit of the Marriage Council.