Marriage Encounter

Marriage Encounter

Thank you for your interest in Marriage Encounter. 

The St. Ann's Marriage Encounter (WEDS) sharing group is made up of couples who have experienced a Marriage Encounter Weekend  and and enjoy the continuing opportunity to focus on their marriages.  Our group meets the 2nd Saturday of each month at a couple’s home to share and support our mutual commitment to our Marriages. The involvement in our local WEDS group keeps us involved in the greater Atlanta Area World Wide Marriage Encounter community and provides the additional opportunities to participate with our families in Atlanta and National events that celebrate Marriage as a sacrament. World Wide Marriage Encounter is Catholic based but not Catholic exclusive.

The emphasis of Marriage Encounter is on communication between husband and wife, who spend a weekend together away from the distractions and the tensions of everyday life, to concentrate on each other.  The communication technique “Dialogue” provides a format for reminding each other how much we appreciate them. It allows disappointments and concerns to be discussed without fear of judgment or problem-solving. It provides a relationship of trust that allows difficult decisions or situations to be resolved “together”. 

The Marriage Encounter Weekend.

The Marriage Encounter Weekend is designed to give married couples an opportunity to reflect on their lives together. It’s not a retreat, nor a marriage clinic, nor group sensitivity.  It’s a unique approach aimed at revitalizing Christian Marriage.  The Weekend provides a time for you and your spouse to be alone together.  A time to rediscover the love that brought you together and concentrate on only each other for an entire weekend.  Every marriage deserves that kind of attention!

The Marriage Encounter Presenting Teams & Participating Priest will provide techniques and examples that  promote a weekend of time to share feelings, hopes, joys and frustrations…and to do so openly and honestly in a private heart-to-heart encounter with the one person you have chosen to live with for the rest of your life.

Who is the Weekend for?  Any married couple who desires a richer fuller life together.  A marriage can never be too good.  Marriage Encounter is designed to deepen and enrich the joys a couple share together, whether they have been married for only a short time, or many years.  Marriage Encounter also provides support and encouragement to priests and religious who are dedicated to their vocation in life.

Do you have to be Catholic?  The weekend is Catholic in orientation and is expressed in the tradition and understanding of the Catholic Church.  It is open to all, and so a certain number of spaces are reserved each weekend for couples of other faiths. 

What happens at a World wide Marriage Encounter Weekend?

A series of presentations are given by a team of Catholic couples and a Catholic Priest Each presentation allows you and your spouse an  opportunity to look at yourself as an individual, then to look at your marriage and your relationship to one another, and finally to look at your relationship to God, the Church and the world.  The weekend starts at 7:30PM on Friday night and concludes after a Mass about 4:30 on Sunday afternoon.

Does the Weekend ensure a couple’s privacy? 
The weekend is oriented to each individual couple. The presentations are given to the group as a whole.  After each presentation, the husband and wife are provided time in the privacy of their room for their own personal discussion.

How does a Marriage Encounter enhance a marriage?  The encounter weekend teaches a communication technique which permits each couple to explore important areas of their relationship in a spirit of Love, Understanding, and Trust.  The Weekend introduces the couple to a communication technique that can be “taken home” to allow them to continually grow closer together to live more joyful and purposeful lives.

When and Where?  The Atlanta Area Marriage Encounter Weekend dates and location are listed on the Schedule page.

What does Marriage Encounter Cost?  A $75.00 NON-REFUNDABLE APPLICATION FEE confirms your food and lodging.  At the end of the weekend, couples are provided details on the cost of the weekend and asked to consider making a private tax deductible donation. No one is ever refused the opportunity to make a weekend because of the lack of funds. 

Visit the Marriage Encounter website: www.wwmeatlanta.org to apply for a weekend. They are listed on the Schedule page.

For additional information or to join our St-Ann’s Marriage Encounter group,
call Bob & Joy Lambie at 770-587-1506.