MARRIAGE ENRICHMENT

Purpose:
	To assist married couples to live fully intimate and responsible relationships by providing them with a faith-based enrichment experience and ongoing community support. The mission of World Wide Marriage Encounter (WWME) is promoting renewal in the church and affecting change in the world by assisting couples to live a more fully intimate and responsible relationships.
Activities:
	WWME is a weekend experience for married couples of all ages. It is for any couple who would like an opportunity to strengthen their already good marriage. A Marriage Encounter Weekend is a private weekend for the couple to spend time together in a secluded atmosphere, free from the tensions, pressures and interruptions of the world. Guided by a team of three couples and a priest, couples learn communication techniques which help them to deepen their relationship with one another and with God.
Background:
	WWME provides couples with a Catholic "experience", and ongoing community support for such a lifestyle, offering a weekend experience designed to give married couples the opportunity to examine their life together. It is one of the most successful and dynamic marriage enrichment experiences in the world today. World Wide Marriage Encounter began in 1952 when a young Spanish priest, Fr. Gabriel Calvo, began developing a series of conferences for married couples. In 1962, Fr. Calvo presented the conferences as a weekend retreat to couples in Barcelona. In 1967 a couple and a priest presented the weekend to seven couples and several priests at the Christian Family Movement Convention at Notre Dame University. By January of 1969, a national executive board was formed to coordinate the development of the movement in the US and Canada. In 1971, the WWME experience spread throughout the United States and other parts of the world.
Responsibilities:
	This ministry is responsible for: Recruitment of members; developing and coordinating Marriage Encounter events; and maintaining procedural documentation relating to this ministry.
Commitment:
	This special weekend experience lasts from Friday evening until early Sunday evening. It is designed for husbands and wives who love each other, and who have been married from 2 years to 50 years, and beyond. Notice is placed in the bulletin with specifics about the scheduled dates, location, and costs for the weekend.