Engaged Encounter is an investment in the future -- a weekend in which an atmosphere is created for each couple to concentrate exclusively on one another, free of the tensions, pressures and interruptions of daily living.

The weekends given in the Gallup Diocese follow the guidance of the national organization, Catholic Engaged Encounter. The organization began in 1975 and has grown to include nearly every diocese in the United States plus many countries around the world. Please see www.engagedencounter.org for more information.

It is a quiet weekend, specifically designed to give a couple planning marriage an opportunity to talk honestly and intensively about their future together. The weekend consists of a series of presentations beginning at 7:30 p.m. Friday night and ending about 4:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon. Led by a team of married couples and a priest, the engaged couple is encouraged to talk privately with each other on many aspects of marriage, always from the viewpoint of their own relationship.

Among the subjects couples will have an opportunity to discuss with each other are their ambitions, goals, and attitudes; about God, money, sex, children and family; about their strengths and weaknesses; and about their role in the Church and society. Personal reflection and discussion as a couple are the main focus of the weekend.

Marriage can be understood in its cycles of romance, disillusionment, and true joy, culminating in unity. Through this weekend couples get to know each other more deeply, and learn ways of communication that can be used throughout their lives.

The weekend encourages engaged couples to communicate in terms of planning a marriage, not just a wedding celebration. "A wedding is a day, a marriage is a lifetime." Couples who attend an Encounter weekend several months prior to their wedding obtain the maximum benefit.