Love Never Ends: Marriage retreat set for Jan. 14

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
Dec. 7, 2006

REMSEN - Love Never Ends is the name of a marriage enrichment retreat that will be offered to couples in the Diocese of Sioux City on Jan. 14 at St. Mary School in Remsen.

According to Bev Hurni, director of adult and family ministries, feedback from focus groups last year revealed that couples want more support for their marriages from the church. They wanted the support from their local parishes or clusters in short sessions as opposed to weekend gatherings.

She mentioned that with this being a model retreat, people can attend the retreat and then offer it back in their home parish or cluster. However, couples are invited to attend the retreat merely as participants even if they don't plan to facilitate other sessions at the local level.

Hurni pointed out that in the resource the diocese used to create this model retreat, it offers 10 topics which can be addressed such as family of origins issues, sexuality, finance, children, faith, household tasks and more.

At the upcoming retreat, two couples from the Adult and Family Ministries Advisory Board will give talks and each will cover a different topic. One couple will reflect upon work and leisure and the other will discuss faith.

"The couple gives a witness talk based on their own reflections on this topic and then we give couples time to fill out a worksheet and have some dialogue time," noted Hurni. "Then we have a second witness talk with time for dialogue."

During the retreat, Hurni will also offer a brief reflection on the sacrament of marriage and marriage from the Catholic perspective.

All participants will receive a dialogue packet so that they can continue discussions at home for even greater marriage enrichment.

The upcoming January session will be the second session of this marriage retreat to be offered in the diocese. Love Never Ends was presented for the first time on Nov. 5 in Rockwell City.

"We were very pleased with comments after they experienced Love Never Ends," noted Hurni.

Participants at that retreat mentioned: "It was the most time we have had to talk to each other in a long time, and it was wonderful." "I didn't realize I wasn't talking to my spouse." "It helped us remember us." "This is a program that will be simple to lead and worthwhile for other couples."

Hurni also heard participants mention that they felt the retreat would be doable at the local level.

The Jan. 14 retreat will begin at 2 p.m. For couples who plan to facilitate the program in their own parish, there will be an informational session from 4 to 4:30 p.m. concerning implementation of the retreat.

"We will talk about the various models for offering it in the parish. It can be a one-time retreat or they may want to make it a series of marriage enrichments gatherings - possibly during Lent," noted Hurni.

Couples who plan to attend Love Never Ends in Remsen, are asked to register by Jan. 5. Hurni highly encouraged people to pre-register because should there be inclement weather, they would have the names of people to contact if the retreat was to be postponed.

Cost of the retreat is $15 per couple, including dinner that will be held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. If a couple or a team of two to three couples plans to offer this retreat in their own parish or cluster, she encouraged them to discuss it with their pastor. Some parishes may opt to pick up the cost of the retreat if it is something that will be used for ministry at the local level. For more information, call (712) 233-7530 or e-mail sandiw@scdiocese.org.