Central California Worldwide Marriage Encounter is a part of the Worldwide Marriage Encounter family. Worldwide Marriage Encounter is a Catholic organization, whose mission in the United States is "to assist couples and priests to live fully intimate and responsible relationships by providing them with a Catholic 'experience' and ongoing community support for such a lifestyle."

• Background & History of WorldWide Marriage Encounter
• What is the basic philosophy of Marriage Encounter?
• How does the Weekend enhance our marriage?
• Who is it for ?
• Do you have to be Catholic ?
• What happens at a Marriage Encounter weekend?
• Does the Weekend respect our privacy?
• What does the Weekend cost?
• When and where ?
• Followup philosophy

Background & History of WorldWide Marriage Encounter

    Worldwide Marriage Encounter began in 1952 when a young priest in Spain, Father Gabriel Calvo, began a series of conferences for married couples. The focus of the conferences was on developing an open and honest relationship within marriage and learning to live out this sacramental relationship in the service of others. Each presentation ended with a question designed to encourage the couple to look at the concepts presented in terms of their own relationship. For approximately 10 years the "marriage teams of Pope Pious XII", as the presenting teams were called, traveled throughout Spain with this series of conferences for married couples.

    In 1962, Father Calvo presented the conferences as a weekend retreat to couples in Barcelona. The experience was very successful and rapidly spread throughout Spain.

    In 1966, the concept was presented to the International Confederation of Christian Family Movements in Caracas, Venezuela. From there, the weekend spread to Latin America and to Spanish speaking couples in the United States.

    In 1967, a couple and priest presented the weekend to seven couples and a few priests at the Christian Family Movement Convention at Notre Dame University. By the summer of 1968, 50 couples and 29 priests were presenting weekends in the United States.

   By January of 1969, a national executive board was formed to coordinate the development of the movement in the U.S. and Canada. In New York state, under the leadership of Father Chuck Gallagher and a couple, the movement was growing rapidly.

    In the fall of 1971, the decision was made to spread the Worldwide Marriage Encounter experience throughout the United States and to other parts of the world. Teams traveled first to Grand Forks, North Dakota with the assurance of financial support, personnel and training from the New York family, until the new unit could support itself. The only condition was that once self support was realized the same assistance would be given to other areas. The weekend reached the west coast in December at Santa Barbara. From there it spread throughout California.

   At about the same time, Worldwide Marriage Encounter began its international expansion with team couples being sent to Belgium and England, The expansion continues today and weekends are now offered in numerous languages and dialects in 83 countries in Latin America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia.

What is the basic philosophy of Marriage Encounter ?

   The basic philosophy of Worldwide Marriage Encounter rests on the belief that the Sacraments of Matrimony and Holy Orders are a call to unity for the couple and the priest.
   For the married couple this is a call first of all to unity with each other. That unity in love is a Sacramental sign to the Church of Jesus' love for all of us. They, therefore not only receive the Sacrament of Matrimony, but their relationship becomes the Sacrament. Their daily "Yes" to one another is also a "Yes" to the Church which has called them to a Sacramental way of life, not only for their own sakes, but for the sake of the Church. They belong, not only to each other, but are called also to a unity with others as their Sacrament.
    For the priest this is a call to unity with his people. They ask him to be their priest. Just as Matrimony is not a private affair for a couple, a priest's priesthood is not his own. He is, therefore, not his own man. The call to celibacy in the Western Church is not a call to chaste bachelorhood, but a call to intimacy, involvement and belonging to his people.

How does a Marriage Encounter enhance a marriage?

    The Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend teaches the couple and priest or religious a communication technique, called Dialogue, which permits each couple, priest or religious to explore important areas of their relationship in a spirit of love and understanding. By continuing this newly acquired technique begun on the weekend, the couple, priest or religious continually grow in intimacy, living more joyful and purposeful lives.

Who is it for?

    A Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend is designed for every married couple who desires a richer, fuller life together. It is for couples with a good marriage who desire to make it better. A marriage can never be too good. This weekend encounter is designed to deepen and enrich the joy a couple shares together, whether they have been married for only a short time or for many years.
   Worldwide Marriage Encounter also provides support and encouragement to priests and religious who are dedicated to their state of life, but are eager to have a greater and more intimate relationship with their people, the Church.

Do you have to be Catholic?

   The Weekend is Catholic in orientation and is expressed in the tradition and understanding of the Catholic Church. Because it is open to all, a certain number of spaces are reserved each Weekend for couples of other faiths. There are eleven other faith expressions that provide a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend. Please go to our Links page to find different faith expressions of Marriage Encounter

What happens at a Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekend?

    The Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend is designed as a series of presentations by a trained team of three Catholic couples and a Catholic Priest. Each of these presentation, involves a sharing of some aspect of their own relationship concluding with a question for the personal reflection and discussion of the participants (couples, priests and religious). Each presentation allows you and your spouse a rare opportunity to look at yourselves as individuals, then 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 presentations are designed to give married couples the time and opportunity to examine their lives together...a time to share their feelings, their 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 each has chosen for a lifetime.

   The presentations emphasize the quality of communication between the husband and wife, who spend a weekend together away from the distractions and tensions of everyday life, to concentrate on each other. It is a time for a husband and wife to be alone together; to rediscover each other; and, together to focus on their relationship for an entire weekend.

   It's not a retreat, a marriage clinic, or group sensitivity experience. It is a unique approach aimed at revitalizing and enhancing Christian marriage. The weekend starts at 8:00pm on Friday evening and continues until 5:00pm on Sunday evening. Meals are provided on the weekend.

Does the weekend respect the couple's privacy?

YES! The design is such that the weekend is a private experience. The weekend is oriented strictly to each individual couple, priest or religious. The concentration is on your spouse. A concentration to such an extent that most people are hardly aware of the other people present. The presentations are given to the group as a whole. After each presentation, the participants have time in the privacy of their room for their own personal discussion. There are no group discussions.!

How much does the weekend cost?

    A $50.00 NON-REFUNDABLE deposit is required to confirm your reservation, food and lodging. There is limited availability, so early registration is encouraged At the end of the Weekend each couple is given a blank envelope and asked to make a further donation. No one is ever refused the opportunity to make a Weekend because of lack of funds.

When and where?

   Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekends are held regularly at local motels and retreat houses. In some areas there is a waiting list for the Weekend. Registration several months in advance may be advisable. The experience begins on a Friday evening and concludes late Sunday afternoon. Generally 20- 30 couples participate. Click on a particular area to se where your weekend will be held. Or please check the Weekends page for a complete listing of all the dates and their locations.

Followup philosophy

    Worldwide Marriage Encounter sees its weekend experiences as the beginning of the Encounter. Follow up programs and the development of the Encounter community at the local level are seen as a vital part of continuing growth and support. For the couple, these provide an opportunity for continued discernment of their role and mission within the Church, usually lived out in the context of the parish. Large numbers of encountered couples tend to become involved in parish leadership roles, especially in ministries relating to Religious Education, Marriage Preparation, Family Life Programs, Renew, and the Liturgical ministries. Diocesan or inter-parochial programs such as Right-to-Life and Natural Family Planning are also areas that involve many encountered couples. For these couples, the Encounter community continues to be a source of continued, strength and support.

   The weekend itself has also proven to be a means of evangelization. Typically, the couples experience not only a conversion to each other, but a real conversion to their church. Often the unchurched or those who have been apart from the Sacramental life of the Church for many years, experience Church in a new way and begin to develop a deep sense of their own importance to the Church as a Sacramental sign of Jesus' love and a sense of belonging. There is a new awareness of the significance of others in their lives. Proselytizing those who are members of other faiths is never the goal of the weekend, but the desire for intimacy and unity within the marriage relationship often results in the decision by the couple to embrace a common faith family.

    At the heart of Worldwide Marriage Encounter's philosophy is the deep-seated belief that the Sacraments of Matrimony and Holy Orders are powerful and precious gifts given by God to the Church. The renewal of these Sacraments are the special gifts that the Encounter has to bring to the church in its own continuing self-renewal. Worldwide Marriage Encounter couples, therefore, happily see themselves as joining with other movements to bring their own gifts to the work of renewal, in providing new life for all the people of God.