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Marriage Encounter / Engaged Encounter
Upcoming Encounter Weekends:
Marriage Encounter
October 27-29, Pensacola
What better time than now to spend a weekend away with that special person you love! Learn new communication skills that will help you live in a closer and fuller relationship. A Marriage Encounter Weekend will be held October 27-29 at the Ramada Bayview Inn in Pensacola. For information or to register ($50) contact Dan and Bev Holmes at (850) 897-2446.
What is Marriage Encounter?
Marriage Encounter is the largest marriage enhancement program in the world. Weekends are presented in 91 countries and by 12 Christian denominations. More than two million couples have participated.
United Methodist Worldwide Marriage Encounter is designed for a man and woman who are married. It offers a weekend experience designed to give married couples the opportunity to learn a technique of loving communication called dialogue that you can use for the rest of your lives. It's a chance to look deeply into your relationship with each other and with God. It's a time to share feelings, hopes and dreams with each other that may have gotten lost in the shuffle of day-to-day life.
The weekend emphasis is on the communication between a husband and a wife. The weekend provides a restful environment for you both to spend time together, away from the distractions and tensions of everyday life, while encouraging you to focus on each other and your relationship.
It's not a retreat, marriage clinic, sensitivity group, or a substitute for marriage counseling. It's a unique approach aimed at revitalizing a marriage.
What is the format of the Weekend?
The encounter weekend begins about 7:30 Friday evening and concludes mid-afternoon on Sunday. It is important that couples stay until the conclusion on Sunday. When you register for the weekend, a room is reserved for you. Plan to eat prior to arrival on Friday; meals for Saturday and Sunday are provided.
What does the Marriage Encounter Weekend Cost?
A nonrefundable registration fee of $50.00 is required to reserve your space for the Weekend. You will also be given the opportunity to make a contribution on the Weekend to help cover Weekend expenses, including your meals, room and administrative expenses. Marriage Encounter is a not-for-profit organization that is entirely self-supporting. We ask couples to give what they can, but we do not want them to miss the Weekend because of finances.
Who should attend a Marriage Encounter?
Marriage Encounter 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. Any couple who love each other and want their marriage to be the best possible can find new meaning and deeper joys through what is offered. Even the best marriages can benefit. Marriage Encounter is not for troubled marriages, but rather for good marriages that want to become great marriages. Every marriage can be strengthened and grow. Every marriage deserves that kind of attention, don't you think?
What is Engaged Encounter?
Engaged Encounter - United Methodist is a weekend experience designed to help couples prepare personally and as a couple for marriage. The focus is on the marriage, not on the wedding. "A wedding is a day ... a marriage is a lifetime." This weekend is for couples who are interested in giving their marriages the best possible start; it is designed to provide the opportunity to talk honestly about your strengths and weaknesses, desires, ambitions, goals, money, sex, children, family, church, and society.
Couples are shown communication and decision-making techniques they can use throughout their lifetime together. Engaged Encounter is specifically designed for quiet reflection and discussion by each couple. It is a positive, simple, common-sense experience between two people who are either seriously considering engagement, engaged or recently married. At no time will the couple be required to share their private experiences with the group. It’s not a lecture series, a group sharing experience, a Bible study, or a vacation weekend.
Who should attend an Engaged Encounter?
Although the Engaged Encounter is United Methodist in orientation, it is open to couples of any faith. Any couple serious about making and keeping their marriage the best it can be will discover the weekend to be meaningful and non-threatening and will be able to relate the weekend concepts to their own faith. This includes couples of all ages. Divorced or widowed people planning to remarry will find the Engaged Encounter a rewarding experience. Couples without church affiliation are also welcome.
Who can I contact for more information on Marriage or Engaged Encounter?
For more information or registration forms for either Marriage Encounter or Engaged Encounter, you may contact Dan & Bev Holmes at (850) 897-2446, or visit the national or local web sites below, which list the dates and locations of upcoming weekends in our area.
