The Puyallup Church recently hosted a marriage seminar with Nancy Van Pelt, popular family life educator.

"The most rewarding part of my work," Van Pelt says, "is being able to see a couple all the way through from courtship to marriage to being parents."

Van Pelt began presenting marriage and family life classes in Calgary in 1971. Since then, she's conducted more than 3,000 seminars and authored 30 books. She has been featured on Focus on the Family with James Dobson and on Three Angels Broadcasting Network.

"The key to a happy marriage," Van Pelt says, "is education. Every year couples should do something to educate themselves regarding their marriage."

The Highly Effective Marriage Seminar has five sequential lecture segments and includes interactive assignments with warmth and humor liberally accompanied to every presentation. The weekend seminar concludes with each couple renewing their wedding vows. Not only does Van Pelt draw from years of research, but also years of being a wife and a mother.

"This was the most productive and yet fun marriage seminar we've ever been to," says one couple who attended the Puyallup presentations; another comments, "It was so practical."

According to Kieth Noll, Puyallup Church pastor, the reason for presenting practical life presentations is to provide a way to reach out to the community and make an impact.