Do churches give post-wedding retreats for couples?

GardeniaLily

After hearing so much about the "Engaged Encounters" retreats, I'm feeling pretty jealous about missing out on it. We just had our last marriage prep class tonight and the whole experience has been SO disappointing. Our teachers were awful and the "class" was hardly a class at all. There wasn't really any discussion on topics--just a review of what our packet said that week. Even when it came to the packet that was about sex, they basically just skipped it that week because "we don't talk about sex, you can just read that on your own" (quoted word for word). Not that I particularly wanted to talk about it with strangers, but really? You're teachers? Are we adults or what?

We definitely don't have time to do another round of classes or a retreat or anything, so I was wondering if there is anything like that for married couples after the fact.

ring_pop

Yes! There is a retreat called Marriage Encounter. You can ask your church about it or sign up for it yourself.
http://www.wwme.org/

I also know of people who did a program called Retrouvaille, but their marriage was pretty rocky and I think the program is more focused on repairing broken marriages.
http://www.retrouvaille.org/

Down the road, you may also want to consider volunteering for the marriage program in your church!

[Deleted User]

I am sorry to hear about your experience with your marriage prep class.

Like ring_pop said, there is a program that I would highly recommend called Marriage Encounter. It is actually the sister program to Engaged Encounter. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about it from couples who have went through it.

My IL's actually did it for a while (even though FIL is not Catholic) while they were young and raising their children. They met some awesome couples that they still hang out and do things with today.

And I know our church has something called For Keeps. Basically, it is a group of married couples (most who are having and raising children) that meet once a month after Mass. Currently, they are reading and discussing Matthew Kelly's book Raising Better Families. I am not sure if this is a national Catholic organization or if it is something specific to our church. They have tried to get H and I to join and said that you don't have to have kids, but the funny thing is that I end up working in the nursery to provide childcare for the parents while they are at their meeting. But it doesn't hurt to ask if your church has one.

rombacja

I'm not sure where you live, but I'm sure you can find stuff like this all over. There is a Young Married Couples Retreat at this retreat house. I've obviously never been b/c I'm not married yet, but I've heard good things about this retreat and the other retreats I've been to at this place have been amazing. A great mix of faith and community. I actually met my FI on this young adults retreat. Highly recommend!

http://www.capemaymarianists.org/coupleretreats.html

catarntina

I find that odd that they didn't want to talk about sex, because the church actually wants married couples to have sex, since it's like the ultimate gift you can give your spouse (ie, yourself, your fertility, etc, etc)  Very strange that they skipped over that since the church views married couples having sex so highly.

If you have questions about the church and sex, you should read "Good News About Sex and Marriage" by Christopher West.  We were given a copy during our pre-cana classes. I highly recommend it.  It's subtitled, "Honest Questions and Answers about Catholic Teaching."  It was very helpful to me.

I also recommend "Humanae Vitae" by Pope Paul VI.

In answer to your real question, our church does married couple retreats also.  They usually post the dates in the weekly church bulletin and the contact info to sign up.

GardeniaLily

Thanks everyone! I will definitely look into this when I get the chance. Thanks for the tips and the recommendations!

ootmother2

My church has retreats for singles, married and another program for , "babyboomers".  The latter is for the over 50 singles. Every group has its own retreat.