Last month John and I received a retirement letter from Ann and K.L. Berry. They had taken a sabbatical and after much contemplation decided with heavy hearts to retire from teaching NFP. They started Lamaze couple-to-couple teaching in the spring of 1971 that culminated in the 1980s with childbirth preparation and labor coaching for unwed mothers. In 1986 they became CCL teachers and then became NFPI teachers in the fall of 2007. Over the 40 years they have taught almost 4000 couples. While many NFP teachers only offer 2 to 3 NFP courses a year, Ann and K.L. Berry taught 8 NFP courses each year and loved it!
The Berrys realize how important teaching NFP is for the Church. As they said: “While natural family planning is largely given only lip service from the Catholic pulpit, it is perhaps the most essential, most fundamental aspect of right-to-life and the marriage covenant.”
We thank them for their service to the Church in the Denver archdiocese. K.L. was especially helpful to us in the formation of NFPI with regard to the design of the logo, graphics, letterhead, etc. We are so grateful for their support of NFPI. The Berrys believed “that the course CCL had taught for over 30 years remains essentially valid and vital.” When CCL changed, the Berrys continued to teach the original Triple Strand by joining NFPI.
In their 2007 analysis of the evaluations from 500 engaged couples who were required to be at a full NFP course, Ann and K.L. concluded the following for the archdiocese of Denver:
• Virtually all couples understand and can use the Sympto-Thermal Method.
• Many engaged women have begun Sympto-Thermal charting.
• Some of the many cohabitating engaged couples cease pre-marital sexual relations, apparently embracing the courses’s Sex and the Marriage Covenant theology.
• Most couples express very positive regard for the class on natural mothering and ecological breastfeeding—the world’s oldest form of natural child spacing.
Ann and K.L., You will be missed! God bless you and yours. John and Sheila
Battle-Scarred: Justice Can Be Elusive by John F. Kippley
Why did Macleans magazine write a page-one article titled “Why do they want to drive John Kippley out of Saskatchewan?” Learn the history of the NFP movement and the dissent history of Humanae Vitae from the years 1963-2010. What mistakes did John make? What advice does he give? Why did my husband and I begin a new NFP organization in the fall of 2004? Get a copy and enjoy.
Sheila Kippley