Who benefits from a Marriage Encounter weekend?
Marriage Encounter is for all married couples who want to improve their marriages with better communication. It is open to all, regardless of age or faith. Newly married couples and couples married over fifty years have all found the Encounter to be beneficial. Couples of all faith commitments are welcome to explore and strengthen the meaning of their married lives in their own religious frame of faith
Through the Marriage Encounter Weekend process couples are given time to reflect on their attitudes toward each other and their families ... their joys and their frustrations ... their disappointments and hurts ... their hopes and their dreams. The techniques shared on the ME weekend are non-threatening. The weekend experience is unique for each couple, and the communication experienced between each individual couple is personal and private.
Where are the weekends held?
Each affiliate across the country has a different facility and different costs, but the process is identical. A Marriage Encounter usually takes place over the course of a weekend and is held in a hotel, retreat center, parish, or church. The site provides a comfortable setting for husbands and wives to pause and refocus attention on themselves, one another, and their marriages.
What is the format?
A team consisting of three married couples and often a clergy person or clergy couple leads the weekend process. The members of the team are not teachers, therapists, or professional counselors, but are people who previously experienced the weekend process themselves. The team couples give a specific series of presentations. These presentations are not meant to be lectures or teachings but rather informational sharings centered around personal experiences. Time for personal reflection and couple communication or dialog follows each presenation. The weekend process centers around open and honest communication, which occurs privately between spouses in their own room. Listening is as important as talking.
What does a weekend cost?
Costs vary from one community to another, so you will need to check with the group in your attendance area for specific costs. The nationwide average for a Marriage Encounter weekend is $150 to $300 per couple, which generally covers cost of rooms, supplies, and meals.
In some areas of the country a set fee is charged up front. In other areas of the country, at the conclusion of the weekend, you are asked to make a contribution toward covering the costs (accommodations, food, and supplies). Thus, YOU determine the cost of your weekend. No couple should ever be turned away because of lack of funds. NME is a non-profit organization ministering to marriages.
What does interfaith mean?
National Marriage Encounter is an interfaith expression of Marriage Encounter. It is open to and effective for couples of all faith expressions and those who do not have a faith background. The emphasis of the weekend is the enrichment of marriage relationships.
Facilitators for the weekend are often couples from various faiths working side by side to present the weekend. Facilitators may be couples in "mixed religion" marriages or couples with divorce as part of their background. They may share their faith and its role in their lives. | 
