Grace and strength.

Those are two guiding principles that propel Millersville Community Church's Empowered by Grace initiative.

The Circles of Strength program "Building Stronger Connections: A Relationship Workshop" will be held Saturday, Aug. 22, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the church, 163 W. Frederick St., Millersville. There is no charge to attend; child care will be provided.

Registration is required. The deadline is Tuesday, Aug. 18. Contact Kelly Dennis at 717-951-0266 or kelly@kellyfdennis.com.

"It is based (on) Gottman's Couples Theory," Dennis said. "It's not just for couples. It's for anybody who's in a relationship. It can be your dating partner, it can be your spouse, it can be your best friend, it can be your adult child. They have noticed in their research that they can predict relationship success or relationship failure by a couple of different points. And some of those points are whether or not people respond to each other's bids for connection, and whether or not they handle or avoid conflict, and then if they do have a conflict, and it doesn't go well, how well they repair. In this workshop, we'll be talking about those things and how to make relationships a little bit better."

Dennis noted that the seminar will help attendees form deeper bonds. "Circles of Strength is more psychologically based and tool-based," she said. "There is a connection. We do a little bit of an icebreaker kind of thing in the beginning, and so people can kind of build that sort of connection. There are hands-on activities that we do, so people can try out the skills, and there's usually some discussion in there. I think one of the reasons that it's important that we do this particular workshop is because we're noticing that so many people are feeling lonely and disconnected. And I think that this workshop will really help them to be able to understand that sometimes the way that they interact with each other, or the way that they communicate, or they solve their conflicts, really kind of adds to that sense of disconnection. I think that this is a really good workshop to help people to feel more connected in the workshop, but then also to take that out in their other relationships."

Bruce Heydt appreciates how Circle of Strength meshes with some of the church's other get-togethers. "It ties in so well with the Family Grace program that Kelly's going to be co-leading," he said. "I'm really excited about being able to offer that, because when I did our other program - called Living Grace that we did last fall - so many of the people who participated in that identified (that) one of the issues they were really dealing with is a lack of understanding on the part of family members and friends of what they were going through. ... As I heard that repeatedly, I thought we needed to offer something that will help not just people going through a mental health crisis or particular challenges but for all the people around them, so they understand and can be a better support system for the people who are going through the crisis or the challenge or whatever it is they're facing."

Millersville Community Church's Family Grace Group will meet from 9:30 to 11 a.m. on 10 consecutive Tuesdays, beginning Sept. 1.

Registration is required; the deadline is Saturday, Aug. 29.

"It's based in biblical values and neuroscience," said Dennis. "You read a Scripture, and then you talk about that, and it's relationships, and families, and mental illness. Then (they) do some small group study and talk about that. It's for families, loved ones. It can even be for couples. Couples can come together, especially if one of them is struggling with some mental health issues. Grace Alliance, which is the people that put out the curriculum for this, have done some studies that have found that if people kind of come and talk about things and work through things and learn some skills, which we do in each of the groups, that it really helps build that relationship and the ability for the loved ones and the caregivers to understand a little bit better if they're not struggling with the mental illness or mental disorder."

Heydt added, "One of the tools that I've heard from people that has really helped them is their faith. Obviously, there's lots of components, lots of tools that we teach. ... We don't approach faith from a theological point of view where we're teaching biblical doctrine, just kind of highlighting the importance of faith in our lives and sharing some stories among the group of how during some dark times, maybe someone's faith really helped bring them through. And I think that can be a real encouragement."