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Marriage Support Ministries
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Many people now, even when they have children, don't seem to feel the need to get married, and of those who do, one in two end up in divorce, and the statistics for Catholics are often no different from those in the rest of society. It is probably more difficult to get married and stay married than ever before, because of all the social pressures around us and those who want a good Christian marriage, need to really fight for them. Various ministries to marriage have emerged as a result:
Catholic Marriage Centre Click here to see our article describing the work of the Catholic Marriage Centre. Teams Of Our Lady Teams of Our Lady, which originated in France, provides ongoing spiritual support for marriage. They organise events and retreat days for married couples. The key ingredient is the forming of a team of four or five married couples and priest who meet on a regular basis to study the scripture and reflect on their marriages in the light of this. For more information visit their website: www.teamsofourlady.org.uk Marriage Encounter Perhaps the best known marriage renewal courses are the Marriage
Encounter ones that first came to this country in the late 1960s and
1970s. These are Catholic renewal weekends run by married couples
for married couples helping them to look at their relationships in
the light of their faith. They are still going strong, if not quite
so popular as in their heyday. For details about the weekends email
Marriage Review Weekends These are ecumenical weekends but with an evangelical spirituality, based on a weekend away for a small group of couples enabling them to look at their marriage in restful surroundings. Details from The Marriage Review Office, The Warehouse Centre, 7 Brook Road, Rayleigh, Essex, SS6 7XX. Tel: 01268 777909. Marriage In The Holy Spirit David and Margaret McGill founders of the Risen Christ Community in Glasgow, who have huge experience in guiding and supporting the married couples in their community, have felt called to share some of their wisdom with others outside the community and are running weekends together with Fr Jim McManus at St Mary's Retreat Centre in Kinnoul, Perthshire. As well as looking at the practical side of communication and other issues in marriage, they will look at the role of the Holy Spirit in marriage, and how Baptism in the Spirit effects a marriage. The next Marriage in the Holy Spirit weekend is 14th-16th February 2003. Marriage Week 9th-16th February 2005 One of the biggest initiatives bringing together the different marriage support agencies is Futureway's, National Marriage Week, which will take place from 9th-16th February 2003. They encourage churches to organise local events celebrating marriage and try to persuade editors to print practical and positive stories about marriage and what makes marriage work well. For further details visit the Marriage week website: www.nmw.org.uk CANA Cana is an outreach of the Chemin Neuf, a Catholic Charismatic French
community with an ecumenical outlook, which offers its marriage retreat
programme for those both in and outside the community. Cana consists
of a week long programme, where the couple can bring their children,
who are then looked after for the week, and given their own formation
programme, while their parents have time for God and each other. The
week draws on Ignatian spirituality and the community's experience
of Christian marriage and is centred on reconciliation with oneself,
with God and with one's spouse. The Chemin Neuf community in Britian
is very small and a Cana retreat here only takes place every two years.
There is one this summer from 27th July - 2nd August at the Chemin
Neuf headquarters at St Gilda's Centre, The Hill, Langport, Somerset.
(Tel 01458 250 496).
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