Mike and Sara Miller with their three children.

Couple to Teach Natural Family Planning in Emmitsburg

Mike and Sara Miller of Thurmont will teach classes in the Sympto-Thermal Method of natural family planning beginning in November.  This is the first time that such a resource has been available locally.

The first class of a four-part series begins on Tuesday, November 5^th at the schoolhouse adjacent to St. Anthony Shrine in Emmitsburg, MD, near the campus of Mount St. Mary’s College and Seminary.  To receive more information about upcoming classes and to register, please call Mike or Sara at (301) 271-9871 or email at mimiller@msmary.edu. 

Natural family planning (NFP) uses observation of a wife’s fertile and infertile times to help space births, or in reverse to help couples of normal or marginal fertility to conceive.

The Millers say NFP is the ideal form of family planning since it is 99 percent effective in avoiding pregnancy, is inexpensive, and has no medical side effects.  “It also promotes better communication in marriages, and is soundly based on scientific principles,” said Mike, an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Mount St. Mary’s.

Mike and Sara share a strong conviction that unnatural forms of birth control are immoral, and are delighted that Christians have a moral and reliable method of spacing children.

NFP is fully in accord with the teachings of the Catholic Church.  In 1981 Pope John Paul II called for a more systematic effort to make the natural methods of regulating fertility known in his encyclical on the family.

“The Sympto-Thermal Method that we teach is nothing like the old rhythm method,” noted Sara.  “NFP compensates for irregular cycles and can be used throughout a couples’ fertile lifetime without health risks.”  Sara went on to explain “NFP is needed today because it teaches how to live with the gift of your fertility – instead of destroying it.”

The Millers have used the method for over 8 years and currently have 3 lovely children.  Sara and Mike recently moved into the area, and are instructors certified by The Couple to Couple League, the largest organization teaching NFP in North America.

The Millers note that the League has teaching couples in all 50 states and in 24 foreign countries.  For more information about The Couple to Couple League, visit their web page at www.ccli.org.