The Marriage Alliance of Central Virginia
Building Stronger Families Through Stronger Marriages For A Stronger Community.
Marriage Encounter Weekend
Marriage Encounter offers a weekend experience designed to give married couples the opportunity to learn a technique of loving communication that they can use for the rest of their lives. It's a chance to look deeply into their relationship with each other and with God. It's a time to share their feelings, hopes and dreams with each other.
The emphasis of the Marriage Encounter weekend is on the communication between husbands and wives. The weekend provides a conducive environment for couples to spend time together, away from the distractions and tensions of everyday life, while encouraging them to focus on each other and their relationship.
It's not a retreat, marriage clinic, group sensitivity, or a substitute for counseling. It's a unique approach aimed at revitalizing Marriage.
This 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. Every marriage deserves that kind of attention!
Marriage Encounter - Myths and Misconceptions
Marriage Encounter Myths
The greatest misconception about Marriage Encounter is that a couple signs up because their marriage is in trouble. Just the opposite is true. Marriage Encounter is for couples who care deeply about their marriage. It is for those who want to build a dynamic, loving, long lasting relationship. Marriage Encounter is for couples married in civil ceremonies or in church. How long you have been married or previous marriages are not factors. Couples with big families, little families and blended families all can benefit greatly from this program. Those experiencing severely troubled relationships, filing for divorce or already separated should consider counseling rather than an Encounter Weekend.
A second misconception that keeps couples from experiencing this constructive, helpful program is that good marriages don't have problems. All marriages have problems; it is how you handle the problems that make a marriage good or bad. Since marriage is made from two humans with all their faults and flaws, no marriage is perfect. All relationships have stresses or areas of disagreement. A good marriage is one in which each spouse knows how to cooperate and help each other. This "knowing" does not come naturally, it is learned. Experience sometimes teaches us how to avoid hurting each other, but most often we just learn how to avoid each other.
American connotations of the word "encounter" cause fear that one will have to talk in a group about their marital problems. Not so! Marriage Encounter is a very private weekend. All communication is confidential between the husband and wife. Their discussions take place in the privacy of their room. Fear is the biggest factor keeping couples away. They fear finding their marriage needs work or other people thinking their marriage is in trouble or even their spouse not loving them anymore. By the end of the program, most couples walk away with a sense of renewal,
Another myth is that the weekend is a conversion or commitment to a specific church. This is also simply not true. The Encounter deals with some faith issues; however it builds on the faith couples already have. There is no pressure for a religious conversion. Using a gentle approach, the team leads couples to discover the meaning of faith in their marriage.
What Couples Say About Marriage Encounter Weekends
"Dennis and I often thank God for the gift of our weekend. Our marriage has been enriched with greater communication and deeper intimacy."
"At ME [Marriage Encounter] the nurture and teaching of the presenting couples brought inspiration and hope. Through the weekend we were finding our way back to a relationship built on the strong foundation of love. I Corinthians 13 is no longer just beautiful language, but a way to live our life together."
"We went about twenty years ago ... and I tell you, it gave us a way to communicate that has served us so well ever since!"
"The Weekend helped me see and accept my self-worth, and gave me encouragement and affirmation in my role as a stay-at-home mom."
Here is the schedule of upcoming Marriage Encounter weekends in our area or nearby. (Additional weekend schedules can be accessed here.)
Event
(Denomination)
Location
For More Information
|
Date(s)
|
Contact name
Phone number
Email address
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Marriage Encounter Weekend
(Catholic)
Herndon, VA
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February 29, 2008
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John & Lorie Scali
703-631-5289
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Marriage Encounter Weekend
(Catholic)
Roanoke, VA
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March 7, 2008
|
Chris and Laura Sumner
540-483-9620
|
Marriage Encounter Weekend
(Assemblies of God)
Virginia Beach, VA
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April 4, 2008
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David and Julie Alexander
757-831-4599
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Marriage Encounter Weekend
(Catholic)
Richmond, VA
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April 11, 2008
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Rick and Denise Long
(804) 550-1010
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Marriage Encounter Weekend
(Lutheran)
Norfolk, VA
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April 11, 2008
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Ron & Barbara Muller
301-868-0383
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Marriage Encounter Weekend
(Lutheran)
Springfield, VA
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April 18, 2008
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Ron & Barbara Muller
301-868-0383
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(For additional weekends, click here.)