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Congratulations to you both on your engagement! We rejoice with you at St. John's Church. As pastor of St. John's, I will be pleased to help you prepare for the true vocation, which will be your in marriage. I invite you to use well the time remaining before your wedding day. We want your wedding to be a dignified and prayerful sacramental event. Marriage is an intensely personal event in the lives of two people, yet Christian marriage is more than a private celebration of love of the bride and groom. Marriage is an act of worship and sacrament. Because it takes place in the presence of the community, the wedding, with all its rites, prayers and music should acknowledge the presence of that community and invite their active participation in praise of God and support of the people whose marriage they have come together. Fr. John Kunz [email protected] Prerequisites for MarriageCouples planning to be married must contact Fr. John Kunz a minimum of one year in advance of the planned wedding date. Arrangements are then made for preparation, which include:
These arrangements are also required of couples planning to be married in a non-Catholic church and where one individual is Catholic. For more information and/or to schedule a meeting with Fr. John, contact the parish office: 507-625-3131 or email Fr. John Fee for Marriage Ceremony at St. John'sParishioners: $250 ($100 deposit required)
Non-members: $500 non-members ($100 deposit required) Registration for Pre-Cana RetreatNatural Family Planning
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St. John the Baptist Premarital Preparation Program“PREPARE/ENRICH is an internationally used inventory designed to provide engaged couples and those working with them a PERSONALIZED PROFILE of what is needed in their marriage preparation process.”
Preparing For The Sacrament Of Marriage Preparing couples for marriage is a gradual task involving many instruments of preparation. It is our concern that we help couples begin the marriage process by reintroducing them to each other in a manner that sets them up for a life long commitment. One such instrument of marriage preparation at St. John’s is the PREPARE/ENRICH ministry. PREPARE/ENRICH is widely used as the essential “first step” which provides couples a look at their strengths and needs and readies them to move into additional marriage education programs, skill training and work with mentor couples. PREPARE/ENRICH was designed for premarital couples preparing for marriage or seriously considering marriage. It provides them with a personalized profile of their relationship, its strengths and challenges. Overwhelmingly couples give this statement as their top response to PREPARE/ENRICH, “It helped us to talk about what we didn't know we needed to talk about.” General Information Regarding Marriage Prep Once engaged couples come to St. John’s asking to be married, Father John will then initiate PREPARE/ENRICH as a self-diagnostic assessment that is designed to help premarital couples learn more about themselves and their unique relationship. After the initial inventory is finished a PREPARE/ENRICH Mentor Couple will be assigned to them. This is both a starting place for couple discussion and a map of what issues need time and attention, affirmation or problem solving. The PREPARE/ENRICH Ministry helps the premarital couples to understand the above concept by:
Can You Explain Why PREPARE/ENRICH Works So Well? PREPARE/ENRICH is very strong on “Family of Origin” questions and issues. Every category of PREPARE/ENRICH calls for the couple to examine what each partner brings from his/her family, culture or environment regarding money, sex, communication, roles, etc. that they are likely to repeat or react against in the new marriage. This emphasis allows a great diversity of cultural patterns and messages to emerge. It tailors the inventory not just to the couple but also to their culture(s). PREPARE/ENRICH was also designed for those professionals or trained lay persons who help prepare premarital couples for marriage. It gives them the unique profile of a couple so that the preparation work can reinforce the strengths in the relationship and concentrate discussion or problem solving on the particular challenges that the couple may face. It also involves the engaged couple actively in the marriage preparation process rather than have them as passive recipients of a training or education process. What Are PREPARE/ENRICH Mentor Couples? PREPARE/ENRICH mentor couples are facilitators of discussion with premarital couples that enables effective couple discussion and problem solving and helps the premarital couple examine relationship categories and patterns. PREPARE/ENRICH mentor couples are married couples from the parish who have a desire to work with premarital couples helping them get ready for married life. Why Mentor Couples? The secular world holds divorce as common place. With the rising number of divorces in our culture it has become increasingly urgent to support engaged couples before marriage and tutor them about the holiness of matrimony. Assigning mentor couples, with various years of marriage, to premarital couples has an impact that fosters longevity in a marriage. |
