About Anxiously Engaged
Anxiously Engaged is a free premarital education class specifically designed for believing Latter-day Saint engaged (or almost engaged) couples and its purpose is to help couples think through and intentionally prepare for marriage. We discuss Becoming One, Healthy Communication, Marital Sexuality, Equal Partnership, Committing Completely and Growing Together.
The class meets 6 times, 1 hour each time for a total of 6 hours. The classes are informal and small (usually less than 8 couples) and are generally taught via zoom.
This is not a traditional “teacher talks, you listen” class. Instead, Anxiously Engaged is structured around what we call “couple conversations.” Your facilitator will present a principle and then each couple will mute themselves and apply the principle to their relationship using a series of questions given to you. So, 15-20 minutes of each 1-hour class is “couple conversation” time.
Good premarital education helps couples prepare effectively for the challenges of married life. When couples prepare effectively, research shows they significantly increase their chances of forming a healthier, happier marriage and avoid some of the disappointing and discouraging potholes and pitfalls of early married life. And they reduce the chances of divorce during the early, high-risk years of marriage.
The creators of Anxiously Engaged are Dr. Alan Hawkins, manager of the Utah Marriage Commission and an emeritus professor of family life at Brigham Young University, Kathryn Pond Sargent, M.S. an adjunct professor of family life at BYU and Tamara Gilliland, M.S. a passionate family life educator.
