“YOU’RE a Mrs?” students at St Thomas More College, Sunnybank, often ask Eloise Bird.
The petite 24-year-old who’s completing a practical placement there as a student teacher married Steven Bird, who is youth co-ordinator at Sunnybank parish, last August.
Together Steven and Eloise now share the parish youth ministry role and are planting strong roots in another faith-oriented area – a group for “young married couples” in Brisbane.
“We have so little spare time,” Eloise said of their work, study and parish commitments.
“We don’t get to spend much time together … so wanted to start a group where we could both attend and be with other newly-marrieds.”
Towards the end of last year, the Birds organised a dinner with a number of other couples married less than 10 years, to gauge the interest.
“They were really positive about it,” Steven said.
“Even the couples who couldn’t come said, ‘We’d love to be involved’.”
Steven and Eloise have worked with Brisbane archdiocese’s Vocations Office to establish the “Brisbane Catholic Young Married Couples” group and are planning their next dinner and input session – following Leaven Hour in St Stephen’s Chapel, city, (from 5.10pm) on July 22.
“It’s about married couples coming together and supporting each other,” Steven said.
“There will be a guest speaker each time we get together … to listen to over dinner and talking about relevant topics for newly-married couples.
“Then there will be a time of discussion.”
The topic for the July 22 session is “Marriage as a vocation”.
Eloise said the group would provide a platform to share challenges and strategies.
“The group is a chance to get Catholic friends together – but it’s more than a social function,” she said.
“We think if husbands and wives can come together they can also spend time with each other.”
The couple plans for the Brisbane Catholic Young Married Couples group to meet four times a year, with the hope of an annual retreat as well.
“Our dream for the retreat is that the boys can meet to talk about boy stuff and the girls get together to talk about girl stuff,” Steven said.
“The boys have some lessons about being great fathers and husbands and being gentlemen.
“Then in the evening we have a dinner and the husband greets his wife and takes her by the hand to dinner.”
Steven has set up a Facebook page called the Brisbane Catholic Young Married Couples for anyone wanting more information.
Interested couples are also able to make contact with him by phoning 0421 884 786.
Married life so far for the robust youth worker has met expectations, Steven saying they “reflect on each other and help each other”.
Eloise said she was conscious they set an example for other young couples.
“I often have girls come to me and ask about purity before marriage and I can tell them of my experience and the promises of God,” she said.
“(But) the kids at school still ask, ‘Mrs Bird, are you old enough to be married?'”
