WelCom July 2019:
‘Come to the Water, You Who Are Thirsty’ – Isaiah 55:1
Kelly and Luana Durston
Worldwide Marriage Encounter (WWME) team members invited Bishop Charles Drennan to their monthly meeting, in Pahiatua in April this year, to share their WWME mission and experience. The team is grateful for Bishop Charles’ support for their planned retreat from 14‒16 February next year to be held at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Palmerston North.
WWME New Zealand is part of an international mission that supports and enhances positive communication within marriages. WWME celebrated its 40th anniversary in New Zealand last year.
WWME retreats have previously been live-in for couples and priests to focus on their marriage and vocations away from everyday distractions. As part of a new international initiative, the February 2020 weekend will be ‘live-out’. Basing the retreat at the Cathedral-Diocesan Centre will enable local couples and priests to attend without significant travel costs, or the need to organise babysitters for weekend and other such challenges, which can impede attendance over a live-in weekend.
The Central Unit of Worldwide Marriage Encounter New Zealand, with Fr Ron Bennett (far left) and Bishop Charles Drennan (centre). Photo: Supplied
The formation of community groups is an essential pillar of the WWME movement. Parish-based weekends enable local couples and priests in the same vicinity to better connect and support one another.
Over the past 40 years, many couples and priests in New Zealand – and around the world – have attended WWME weekends, with significant positive impacts on communication within marriages and in parishes. WWME aims to continue this mission with God at the centre of marriages and of priests’ relationships with their parishioners.
If you would like to attend next year’s 14‒16 February retreat please save the date and check your local parish noticeboards and newsletters for further details over coming months.
Kelly and Luana Durston, Napier, are team leaders for Central Unit of WWME.