Resources in Marriage Preparation and Marriage Enrichment

World Wide Marriage Encounter

What is a Marriage Encounter?

Worldwide Marriage Encounter offers a weekend experience designed to give married couples the opportunity to learn a technique of loving communication that they can use for the rest of their lives. It's a chance to look deeply into their relationship with each other and with God. It's a time to share their feelings, hopes and dreams with each other.

The emphasis of the Marriage Encounter weekend is on the communication between husbands and wives. The weekend provides an environment conducive for couples to spend time together, away from the distractions and tensions of everyday life, while encouraging them to focus on each other and their relationship. It's not a retreat, marriage clinic, group sensitivity, or a substitute for counseling. It's a unique approach aimed at revitalizing Marriage.

This is a time for you and your spouse to be alone together, to rediscover each other and together focus on your relationship for an entire weekend. Every marriage deserves that kind of attention!

For those who have attended a weekend, there are continuing groups which help married couples continue to grow in their marital relationship. These groups are small and personal, designed to enable people to be the best they can be as Christian couples. Following their attendance at a weekend, many couples become deeply involved in the life of their local church, serving as something of a leaven in the loaf of the church in terms of revitalization and spiritual deepening

Worldwide Marriage Encounter (WWME) is an independent non-profit organization associated with various churches and presented within various faith traditions - including a joint Christian Church Disciples of Christ/United Church of Christ expression. WWME is the oldest and largest pro-marriage group in the United States with over 2,000,000 couples who have attended a weekend experience. From a beginning in Spain in1952, Marriage Encounter weekends are now presented around the world. As of November 1996 weekends are now offered in numerous languages and dialects in 83 countries, in Latin America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Marriage Encounter for?

Marriage Encounter is for every husband and wife who desires a richer, fuller life together. No matter how good a marriage is, it can be improved. Even the best marriages can find new meaning and deepened joy on a Marriage Encounter weekend. Whether married for only a short time or for many years, couples of any age can work toward a richer marriage and a more meaningful future together through the weekend experience.

What happens on a Marriage Encounter weekend?

The weekend begins on Friday evening at 8:00 pm and ends around 3:30 pm on Sunday. The weekend is led by four married couples - three lay couples and one pastoral couple - in a structured and informative manner. Through a series of presentations given by this team of volunteers, a couple is given the opportunity to look at themselves, their relationship with each other, with God, and with the world around them. Following each presentation, couples are given time for reflection in the privacy of their own rooms. In this way a couple is encouraged to become aware of their own feelings about various aspects of their marriage.

Does the weekend respect a couple's privacy?

YES! Although presentations are given to the group as a whole, each couple shares the details of their relationship only with each other in the privacy of their room. A couple is never required to share personal information about their marriage with others.

Is Marriage Encounter open to all faiths?

YES—all are welcome on a weekend. There are many faith expressions in the Worldwide Marriage Encounter family. The weekend is given within the framework of Christianity and the presenting couples share from their own faith. Thus, our weekends are presented by couples who are members of the United Church of Christ or Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Information on registration, dates, and location of a Marriage Encounter Weekend can be obtained by contacting one of the following couples or at the Web site: http://ucc.wwme.org .