Letter to clergy from the diocesan Family Life Office.

[Adapt as needed!]

Sponsor Couple Program Orientation & Training

“Wedding” season is upon us! Are you feeling the time crunch to get couples prepared for marriage? Would you like help?!!! The Sponsor Couple Program utilizes a couple-to-couple approach to marriage preparation in which a married couple sponsors, or “mentors”, an engaged couple. They meet once a week for 5-6 weeks using Rev. Robert Ruhnke's book, “For Better and For Ever” as a guide. Quoting from his book, “It is a way for the pastor to share some of the work of marriage preparation with others in the parish. Even more importantly, it brings an added dimension to marriage preparation -- direct couple-to-couple sharing of the sacred-human reality which is the day-to-day experience of Christian marriage.”

Rev. Robert Ruhnke is a Catholic priest and the author of “For Better & For Ever”, the best selling marriage preparation program that began in 1975. The book covers a variety of important topics and issues that include: Your Family of Origin; Money Matters & Career Planning; Family Traditions; Mixed Religion Marriages; Sexuality, Intimacy, and Parenthood; Parenting; Couples Who are Living Together and Sexually Active; Blended Families; Prayer; Marital Spirituality; etc. For more information about Rev. Ruhnke and the Sponsor Couple Program, visit his website at: www.marriagepreparation.com

Benefits of the program:

Establishing the use of “For Better and For Ever” is a proven way to set up a high quality, local church-based, marriage preparation program.
Pastors accomplish two critical ministries, i.e. marriage preparation (of the engaged) and marriage enrichment (of the sponsor/mentor couples).
Since sponsor couples deal with one couple at a time, it is much easier for them to deal with the particular cultural and socio-economic realities of each engaged couple.
Sponsor couples discover that their efforts to minister to engaged couples benefit their own marriage.

Family Life Ministries is offering a Sponsor Couple Program Training with Rev. Robert Ruhnke, Saturday, May 14, 2005, 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. at Our Lady of the Black Hills, 12365 N. Hwy 79, Piedmont, SD. All priests, deacons and their wives, current sponsor couples, and potential sponsor couples are invited to join us for the training. Pastors: You are encouraged to extend invitations to any couple in your parish whom you would recommend for the Sponsor Couple Program.

Registration fee is $10.00 per person, which covers the cost of the book, “For Better & For Ever”. We will bill your parish for the registration fee(s) or it can be paid on the day of the training. Registration Deadline: May 2, 2005! To register, call Jill or Kathy at Family Life Ministries, 343-3541.