It is a weekend for you and your spouse to be alone together, away from the distractions and tensions of everyday life, to rediscover each other and to focus together on your relationship for an entire weekend.
The emphasis of Marriage Encounter is on communication. It is designed to give married couples a time to share their feelings, hopes, disappointments, joys, and frustrations...and to do so openly and honestly in a face-to-face, heart-to-heart encounter with the one person they have chosen to live with for the rest of their life.
It's not a retreat, nor marriage counseling, nor group sensitivity. It's a unique approach aimed at revitalizing Christian marriage. Every marriage deserves that!
This is for any married couple who desires a richer, fuller life together--whether they have been married only a short time or for many years. A marriage can never be too good. Marriage Encounter is also for priests and religious who want to revitalize their relationship with the people of God and develop an even deeper appreciation of their own vocation.
No! The weekend is presented by three Catholic couples and a Catholic priest. It is Catholic in its theology of Marriage, but couples of all faiths can benefit from it and are welcomed and are encouraged to attend.
An atmosphere is created in which a couple can concentrate fully on one another. Talks, given by a team of trained couples and a priest, give a husband and wife and opportunity to look at themselves and to look at their relationship with each other, with God and with others. Marriage Encounter starts with the love you have for your spouse and helps you to expand, and deepen that relationship. The weekend gives you the means to do this--the rest is up to you!
YES! The weekend is oriented towards the privacy of each individual couple. The presentations are given to the group as a whole. After each presentation, a husband and wife have time in the privacy of their room for their own personal discussion.
The fundamental difference among marriages that are good, average, or poor is the level of communication between the husband wife. For those with good communication, it's a chance to deepen it; and for those whose communication has faded, it's a chance to begin again.
The weekend presents an opportunity for you to stop, took a fresh look at yourselves, your marriage, and your priorities. You learn a communication technique which allows and encourages you to explore the important areas of your life together in a spirit of love and understanding. The weekend experience offers every couple the insights, the tools and the confidence to enrich their marriage and to strengthen their love for one another. For many couples, "Their Weekend" is one of the most significant experiences of their lives.
Marriage Encounter Weekends are held regularly at local motels and retreat houses. Weekends can fill up fast, so early registration is advised. The weekend begins on Friday evening at 8:00 p.m. and ends Sunday afternoon at about 4:00 p.m. Meals are provided on the weekend.
A $75 NONREFUNDABLE REGISTRATION FEE confirms your food and lodging. At the end of the weekend, each couple is given an envelop and is asked to make a donation. No one is ever refused the opportunity to make a weekend because of lack of funds.
See a Video about Marriage Encounter
For more information, call 888-827-NJME or send e-mail