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How the Ministry Works
- Once one of our priests has met with an engaged couple and the wedding is booked, information about the engaged couple is sent to the marriage prep coordinator who will match them with a sponsor couple.
- The sponsor couple then makes contact with the engaged couple and they mutually work out a schedule of two to four meetings, typically in the sponsor couple’s home. The meetings usually take place in the evening or on weekends. These meetings range from and hour and a half to two hours each.
- When the meetings are completed, the sponsor couple informs the coordinator, who notifies the priest.
- A sponsor couple will usually work with one or two engaged couples per year.
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Expectations
- The ideal sponsor couple has been married for at least 10 years, is living a fully Catholic marriage, and is willing to talk openly about real-life challenges, including–but not limited to–financial, social and sexuality-related concerns. They also must be warm and welcoming in allowing the engaged couple into the intimacy of their home to discuss such private topics. Yet they also have to be “tough” enough to keep the meetings on track and to point out to the engaged couple things in their relationship that need to be further addressed between them.
- New sponsor couples will receive training from the marriage preparation coordinator couple and/or other veteran sponsor couples. In total, the training commitment is to attend two or three meetings and to thoroughly study the printed materials used in the program.
- Sometime during a new sponsor couple’s first year in this ministry, they are also expected to attend the full-day diocesan “Engaged Couples Conference” program so that they will be able to conduct their private meetings knowing what the engaged couple has experienced at the diocesan conference.
- Volunteers should have good interpersonal, phone and email communication skills.
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Contact Us
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Dcn. Harry Verhileyhverhileystpius.netPermanent Deacon
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