Florida Catholic | New Marriage–Prep Program To Focus On God’s Plan

New marriage–prep program to focus on God’s plan

“God’s Plan for a Joy–Filled Marriage,” is a program being used in some U.S. dioceses that will soon be launched in the Diocese of Palm Beach.

LINDA REEVES | FLORIDA CATHOLIC PALM BEACH BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 04.04.08

Courtesy Photo
St. Peter parishioner Meaghan Weaver, 21, and Henry Hildebrandt plan to be married Jan. 3, 2009. Weaver began working in the Office of Marriage and Family Life last year and is helping to promote the marriage preparation program. As a personal endeavor, she and her fiancé are studying the program under the guidance of Father Richard George, pastor of St. Anastasia in Fort Pierce.

PALM BEACH GARDENS | The Diocese of Palm Beach is enhancing its marriage-preparation program, seeking facilitators and inviting current marriage-preparation ministers to join a training session next month.

Two days of training to introduce “God’s Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage,” a program being used in some U.S. dioceses and soon to be launched here, is planned for May 3 and 4 at St. Clare Parish in North Palm Beach. Interested participants are encouraged to register before April 18.

Janice Petersen-Minshew is the coordinator of the diocesan marriage ministry outreach to engaged, married, divorced and separated. Her department, under Family Life, offers a variety of programs and services designed for the marriage-minded. This one will be aimed at engaged couples.

“It offers more of a profound spiritual understanding of marriage,” she said. “It is more of a supplement to what we are doing now.”

Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito sent a letter to pastors March 11 introducing the supplemental program.

“As you work with engaged couples, you are well aware of the increasing need for a stronger and more fruitful presentation of the church’s teaching on the sacrament of matrimony and human sexuality,” the bishop wrote. “Marriage preparation is an ‘evangelization moment,’ a unique opportunity for couples to be formed in the teachings of the church, in a language that addresses their moral, spiritual and practical needs.”

Fast Track

Event: “God’s Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage,” training for marriage-preparation ministers

When: Saturday, May 3, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. and Sunday, May 4, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Where: St. Clare Parish hall, 821 Prosperity Farms Road, North Palm Beach

What: The marriage-preparation program is based on Pope John Paul II’s collection of writings called Theology of the Body, designed to reshape, strengthen and transform the church’s approach to marriage preparation.

Cost: $220 per person; $350 per couple, includes materials and meals. Interested volunteers should contact their parishes for possible sponsorship opportunities.

Registration: Required by April 18. Visit the diocesan Web site at www.diocesepb.org, call 561-575-7461 or e-mail meg615@gmail.com.

God’s Plan is an Ascension Press product developed by Christopher West, a Catholic author and speaker best known for his work on Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. West, a graduate of the University of Maryland, is a certified instructor of marriage preparation from the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and was certified as a catechist by the Archdiocese of Denver. In 1997, West received a master of theological studies degree from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies of Marriage and Family at The Catholic University of America. The program is based on the Theology of the Body.

“Christopher West developed the program when he was the director of family life in the Archdiocese of Denver,” said Doris Gaunt of the diocese’s Natural Family Planning Office, who is helping to initiate the God’s Plan program.

“Christopher is one of the most sought-after speakers in the church today,” Gaunt continued. “He speaks worldwide and has authored numerous publications. … We researched the program extensively before recommending it for use in our diocese.”

“God’s Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage offers an excellent catechesis on the Catholic Church’s vision of human sexuality and marital love,” wrote Bishop Barbarito in his March letter. “It has been adopted by dozens of dioceses around the country, with impressive practical results that we hope to replicate.”

St. Peter parishioner Meaghan Weaver, 21, who began working in the Office of Marriage and Family Life last year, is helping to promote the marriage preparation program. She is engaged to Henry Hildebrandt and they plan to be married Jan. 3, 2009. As a personal endeavor, she and her fiancé are studying the program under the guidance of Father Richard George, pastor of St. Anastasia in Fort Pierce.

“I love it,” Weaver said. “We finished the first two chapters. It talks about Scripture and Adam and Eve — God’s plan in the beginning — the creation of man and woman. My fiancé liked it a lot.”

The program is divided into two main parts, including “Catholic Faith and Your Marriage” and “Sacramental Sexuality.”

“Marriage-preparation programs offer a unique opportunity for spiritual formation in the teachings of the church,” said Gaunt. “This program speaks to moral, spiritual and practical needs.

“Two key components of this program are the theology of marriage and the gift of human sexuality. Marriage-prep programs are often deficient in these areas, but do a better job in life skills such as communication and finances,” she said.

“The diocese chose to implement God’s Plan for a Joy-Filled Marriage because we believe it will strengthen our marriage-preparation program,” she continued.

“It will supplement, not replace, the current programs. It will be the preferred resource supplement for existing one-day Engaged Encounters. It will also be the preferred resource supplement for multiple-evening marriage-preparation formats.”

The God’s Plan program began in the Archdiocese of Denver in the late 1990s.

“We have been using it for at least 10 years and it works,” said Phil Webb Jr., director of Marriage and Family Offices for the Archdiocese of Denver.

“Christopher West began teaching it here before it was available to others. Today, we have different teachers. We have about 700 to 800 going through the program every year and we get a lot of positive comments.”

A survey over a five-year period of nearly 2,000 engaged couples participating in the program in Denver revealed claims of lifestyle changes because of their participation.

For example, while 91 percent of the couples surveyed were sexually active coming into the program, 48 percent of this group said they decided to save sex for marriage because of what they learned from the content of the God’s Plan program, which reshaped beliefs and senses of right and wrong about moral implications.

“We hope the marriage program will excite people about the sacrament of marriage,” said St. Peter parishioner Cindy Fulmer, a natural family planning coordinator who is helping promote the program. “We are hoping everyone will want to implement the new program.”

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New marriage–prep program to focus on God’s plan

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