A weekend of refreshment, growth and a whole lot of fun.

REGISTRATION OPTIONS

Early bird registration is $65 (January 15 - March 15)

Registration is $85 per couple (this includes lunch for two on Saturday) March 16 - April 30

Walk in registration is $110 at the door

Friday Night Only is $30/couple

Saturday Only is $60/couple

MAIN SPEAKERS

DON & SUE WILSON

Early Life and Calling
Don and Sue Wilson were both raised in Christian homes, where they each experienced a calling from God to dedicate their lives to full-time service. Their shared faith and commitment led them to Manhattan Christian College in Manhattan, Kansas, where they met and eventually fell in love.

Family and Personal Life
The couple married in 1968 and have since built a large, loving family. They are the parents of three grown children, all of whom are actively involved in full-time ministry. Their family has grown to include eleven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, reflecting their enduring legacy of faith and service.

Ministry Journey
Don and Sue began their ministry by serving in several small churches throughout Kansas. Their dedication to God’s work eventually brought them back to Manhattan Christian College, where Don took on the roles of Student Recruiter and Basketball Coach.

Christ’s Church of the Valley
In 1975, Don and Sue moved to Phoenix, Arizona. After serving at two local churches in the area, they founded Christ’s Church of the Valley (CCV). Under their leadership, CCV grew significantly, expanding to seven locations and welcoming more than 25,000 attendees each week. Their faithful leadership spanned 35 years before they retired from local church ministry.

Accelerate Ministry and Current Work
Following their retirement from CCV, Don and Sue launched the Accelerate ministry. This initiative focused on organizing retreats and providing encouragement for hundreds of pastors and their wives. In 2024, they began their current ministry called M4:19, inspired by Matthew 4:19: “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” The mission of M4:19 is to equip believers with training that empowers them to hear God’s voice and confidently respond to His call to share their faith with others.

COUPLES WORKSHOPS: CHOOSE THREE OF THE FOLLOWING WORKSHOPS TO ATTEND AS A COUPLE

Married 32 Years

Michael & Jill Acock

Building a Marriage You Want to Come Home to

Marriage is meant to be a place of refuge and joy, yet life circumstances often happen that divide and weaken that bond. Many of us know habits or attitudes we could let go of to make our marriage better, but without a shared vision, those changes can feel like loss, leading to resentment, bitterness, or even contempt.

This workshop encourages couples to imagine what kind of marriage they could build together. When we have a clear vision of the marriage we long for, we discover what we need to accomplish that vision and what doesn’t belong tends to fall away naturally. Through interactive exercises, guided conversations, and spiritual reflection, you’ll learn how to:
- Create a shared vision for your marriage
- Identify values that matter most to you as a couple
- Build practical rhythms that strengthen connection
- Discern and guard against threats to intimacy
- Anchor your marriage in faith and the transforming love of God

God, by His Spirit, calls us to a holy imagination of what our marriages could be. This workshop will help you move from surviving to building a thriving marriage that you want to come home to.

Michael serves as Lead Pastor at Christian Fellowship, and Jill facilitates the Marriage Ministry Team at CF. Together, they share a deep love for God and a passion for encouraging and supporting couples as they seek to create thriving, flourishing marriages. With 32 years of marriage, Michael and Jill have learned that trusting God in their marriage means trusting God with each other and choosing each other every day. Their heart is to help couples build marriages that reflect God’s love, grace, and purpose. Michael and Jill love hiking and being active together and learning what empty nesting is like with three married children.

Married 32 Years

David & Tracey Buster

Same Team: Caring for Your Marriage While Raising Kids

Raising kids is hard and rewarding. It’s easy to divide ourselves and our resources up so much that we have nothing left for each other. All seasons of parenting present unique challenges to your marriage relationship. We will go over some of the challenges of each phase and ideas for staying connected and prioritizing your spouse. Let’s huddle and talk about the game plan for nurturing your marriage while being unified in your parenting goals.

Having raised four kids, David and Tracey have survived and thrived through the stages of parenting and now get to be grandparents! High school sweethearts, they have served at Forum Christian Church since they were in college. They love high school ministry, MOMS group and leading a young adult community group! They’ve been trying to figure out their empty nest hobbies - so far it’s traveling, spending time with their parents and finding ways to help out with the kids and grandkids.

Married 19 Years

Jeremy & Jess Linneman

Formed Through Marriage: How Marriage Can Make Us More Like Jesus

Spiritual formation is the lifelong, Spirit-led journey of becoming more like Jesus. While this shaping happens through many practices and relationships, marriage—our most intimate human relationship—may be one of God’s most powerful tools for transformation. In this workshop, couples will be introduced to the foundations of spiritual formation and discover how everyday moments in marriage can become opportunities for growth in Christlikeness. Together, we’ll explore practical ways spouses can support, encourage, and walk alongside one another as God forms them more deeply into the image of Christ.

Jeremy and Jessie Linneman met as students at Mizzou and were married in 2006. They are the grateful parents to three wonderful boys: Joseph (16), Jude (14), and Jack (11). Jeremy serves as the lead pastor of Trinity Community Church and Jessie is the director of marketing for My Life Clinic. They love exercising together, spending Mondays at home, and building relationships that help others (and themselves) grow in the way of Jesus together.

Married 32 Years

Andrew & Tiffany Lough

Different by Design: Reflecting Grace in Differences

What if the very differences that cause tension in your marriage are actually part of God’s design? Our aim in this session is to help couples understand personality differences and learn how to navigate them with grace instead of frustration. Through practical insight and honest conversation, we’ll shift from seeing differences as roadblocks to viewing them as opportunities for growth. Discover how reflecting grace can transform everyday tension into deeper partnership.

Andrew loves outdoor activities and is a big talker. Tiffany loves quiet mornings with a book in silence. They are about as opposite as you can imagine, but through grace and with a lot of laughter, have learned to see differences as opportunities to love and grow closer.

Married 19 Years

Bradley & Kate Williams

The Architecture of Intimacy

In a world where one of our greatest gifts has been hijacked and distorted, join us for an honest conversation where biblical wisdom meets biological insight to rediscover how our physical design and spiritual connection harmonize in God’s sacred plan for intimacy.

Bradley serves as the lead minister at Forum Christian Church, and Kate is a physician at the University of Missouri. They are passionate about serving the community and promoting spiritual, relational, and physical health.

Married 57 Years

Don & Sue Wilson

Off the Cuff: Real Answers in Real Time

Got questions about marriage, faith, or life together? This is your chance to ask Don and Sue Wilson anything! In this interactive, open-mic session, couples will have the opportunity to hear real-time, practical wisdom from a couple who has spent decades navigating the highs, lows, and everything in between. No scripts, no pretense—just honest, heartfelt answers drawn from years of experience and a Christ-centered marriage. Come ready with your questions and leave encouraged, equipped, and inspired for your journey together.

Married 57 Years

Don & Sue Wilson

Legacy Builders: How a Christ-Centered Marriage Shapes Generations

This workshop equips couples—especially those in later seasons of life—to build a legacy of faith that outlives them. Together, participants will explore how a Christ-centered marriage becomes a generational foundation, how to intentionally shape spiritual traditions and values, and how to let their love and faith become a light for their children, grandchildren, and beyond.

Married 32 Years

Hartley & Kelly Wright

What You Really Need: Exploring Emotional Needs in Marriage

God created us with physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. We know that physically we need oxygen, water, food, and shelter to survive. Spiritually, we have a void in our lives that only God can fill, we need Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of our lives, and we are designed to connect to God and each other. But when it comes to our emotional needs, we have them, they are the source of what connects us and, when they aren’t met, are the source of conflict, but what are they? Join Hartley and Kelly Wright as they explore the top ten emotional needs and how to meet these needs to have a more intimate, connected marriage.

Hartley and Kelly grew up together, meeting on a school bus in middle school and started dating in high school. With that, there are very few memories they have that don’t include each other. And also, with that, they have had to work through growing pains of growing up together and marrying your high school sweetheart. Hartley is uber creative and shares his talents through playwrighting and podcasting. He currently serves as Associate Teaching Director of Community Bible Study and works in property management. Kelly is uber practical and shares her talents at Veterans United Home Loans, where she serves on the Faith and Community Team. Kelly also serves on the teaching team at Woodcrest Chapel. Hartley and Kelly have two adult children, Madison and Micah, and enjoy spending time at the lake, traveling, and leading small groups and marriage classes.

MEN’S WORKSHOP: DON WILSON

A Sacred Calling: Priest, Provider, Protector

God has entrusted husbands with a unique influence in the home—one that is meant to reflect the heart and leadership of Christ. In this workshop, men will explore what it means to faithfully live out their calling as priest, provider, and protector—not through control or dominance, but through sacrificial love, presence, and integrity.

WOMEN’S WORKSHOP: SUE WILSON

Upper Case God, Lower Case Us

Submission doesn’t mean losing your voice or your worth. In this workshop, we’ll explore with Sue, a fresh, biblical way of understanding submission—beginning with our relationship to God and how that shapes our marriages. Through Scripture and a simple but powerful metaphor, women will be invited to see submission not as inferiority, but as alignment, purpose, and freedom as we live fully submitted to the Upper Case God.

CONFERENCE SHIRTS

T-shirts are $20. Order conference shirts by April 1 when registering, to get the size and color you want. After April 1, limited quantities and sizes will be available for purchase at the conference. T-shirts are unisex sizing and Comfort Colors brand. Comfort Colors styles are garment dyes for that lived in feel and vintage look with almost no shrinkage at home (100% ringspun cotton).

SCHEDULE

Main Session #1
Break
Couples Workshop
Closing
End

FRIDAY

6:30 PM
7:50 PM
8:00 PM
9:00 PM
9:30 PM

Welcome
Interview w/ Main Speakers
Couples Workshops
Break
Main Session #2
Lunch
Mens/Womens Workshop
Break
Couples Workshops
Break
Main Session #3
End

SATURDAY

9:00 AM
9:15 AM
9:45 AM
10:45 AM
11:00 AM
12:10 PM
12:45 PM
1:45 PM
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
3:10 PM
5:00 PM

FAQ

While this event is taking place at Forum Christian Church, it is open to all married and engaged couples no matter if you have a church home or not.
All teaching from the main sessions and workshops will be gospel-based and rooted in God's word.
The conference is at Forum Christian Church (3900 Forum Boulevard) in Columbia, MO.
Engaged or married couples of all ages are welcome. We design the conference to be applicable and enjoyable for couples in their 20’s to their 90’s. If you feel your marriage is as good as it gets, great, please come share your wisdom with those not as far along the path! If you’re struggling to stay together, be encouraged and gain new tools to grow together.
We have always had a vision that this conference would bring together couples from all over the area, regardless of church affiliation. To do that, we need couples like you to help spread the word and get your churches involved. Simply put your church/community name in the ambassador field on the conference registration form and we’ll reach out.
An ambassador shares about the conference with church leadership or the group, invites members/friends to attend, gets communication out to the church body or the group however applicable whether flyers, digital, etc (provided by us). Ambassadors with seven or more couples attending from their church/community (by March 21) can get a reserved spot for their group (if desired) to sit in at the conference and free shirts for you as a couple to show our appreciation for you inviting others in! Just fill out the form with the button below once your group has signed up. Thanks in advance for joining in and leading out as we strive to strengthen and encourage marriages!
We have a block of rooms with a king bed at Courtyard by Marriot for just $179 (regularly $229)! These rooms and rates are available until April 1. Book here or call 573.443.8000 and request a room for the COMO Marriage Conference. If wanting to book after April 10, they will still honor the special pricing if there are available rooms; ask to talk with the sales department. The hotel is loated at 3301 Lemone Industrial Blvd, Columbia, MO 65201.
Doors open at 6:00PM on Friday night and the conference will begin at 6:30PM. We recommend coming at least 15 minutes early to get your folder & t-shirts, grab some snacks, and talk with other couples. If your schedule allows, we recommend grabbing dinner out beforehand, as a chance to connect and talk about your expectations for the evening. On Saturday, doors open at 8:30AM and the conference resumes at 9:00AM.
If so, as a token of our appreciation, use the code MINISTER to get 50% off your registration fee. We value the work you both do pouring into others and are so glad you’re taking time to pour into God and each other.
Child care will not be provided during the conference. Our hope is that this will be a time for you to “get away” so you can receive all God has for you. In order to keep your weekend free of distractions and as a courtesy to other guests, we do not allow children in our sessions, including nursing infants. We do have a quiet room where you are free to pump.
Thank you for understanding that the Marriage Matters Conference registration is non-transferable and non-refundable. In the event you are unable to attend the conference, you may gift or sell your registration to another couple. If you sell or gift your registration to another couple, please email events@forumchristian.org immediately to cancel your registration and the new attendees must email events@formchristian.org to get registered immediately before the conference. If you do not sell or gift your registration it becomes a donation to the Marriage Matters ministry and will be used to cover costs of the conference or registration for other attendees. If you would like to receive a tax donation credit, please send an email to events@forumchristian.org BEFORE the conference with your name and physical address information.
Yes! If costs are what is keeping you from attending the conference, please use the code SCHOLARSHIP to get 50% off your full conference registration (Fri&Sat). By only using this if needed, we can continue to offer this to couples who could use the assistance.
We will have complimentary snacks and drinks available throughout the weekend. Lunch on Saturday is also included in your registration fee.
Yes! We have several couples who rely on sponsorship to attend. To sponsor a couple, just add extra on your registration form. We’ve made it in $5 increments so you can cover the entire cost or a partial amount. Every little bit counts and others will be blessed because of your generosity.
Email us at events@forumchristian.org.

TUESDAY, JUNE 16 FROM 6:30-8:30 PM

The Conference Refresh is a follow-up event designed to help you live out what it means to be chosen—by God and by each other—long after the conference ends. We’ll come back together to revisit key teachings from our main speakers and reflect on how those truths have taken root in everyday marriage life. In small groups, couples will share what they’ve been able to implement over the past month—where choosing each other has been fruitful, where it’s been challenging, and where God has been gently inviting growth. There will also be intentional time for couples to reconnect privately and talk through how they want to move forward—clarifying priorities, choosing rhythms that foster connection, and recommitting to daily, faithful choices. The Conference Refresh isn’t about doing more—it’s about continuing to choose what matters most. It’s a space to recalibrate, be encouraged, and keep walking out a marriage marked by God’s choosing and your daily yes.

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