“Experience has proven the value of the witness of married couples, who live their vocation in light of the Gospel, in preparing couples for marriage. When married couples speak out of their own conviction, …they offer a powerful witness. Married couples who serve in this capacity find that their encounter with the engaged enriches and strengthens their own marriages.”
Diocese of Trenton, NJ
Witness to Love is a virtue and growth-based model of marriage renewal and preparation that integrates modern principles of psychology and virtues to help couples facilitate an authentic dialogue about their relationship.
What makes Witness to Love different?
What makes Witness to Love unique is that the engaged couples choose their own mentor couple. This is a couple they both admire and see as the source of faith formation. This mentor couple gives them a concrete connection and integration into the parish. Through the sharing of the mentor couples’ own journey of love, the engaged couple inherits a “lifeline” of support in their commitment to Jesus and His church.
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Contact:
Ron Medenwald • 619-917-6312 • medenwald@cox.net
Kathy Medenwald • 619-917-6311 • medenwald@cox.net
Witness to Love: A New Vision for Marriage Preparation
Did you know that St. Gregory’s is a Witness To Love parish?
This means that each married couple, by virtue of living out their Sacrament of unconditional love, is a role model for our engaged couples.
Newly engaged couples coming to St. Gregory’s for Marriage Prep are required to find a mentor couple to accompany them on their journey of preparation. Similar to a Godparent or a Confirmation sponsor, ideally, this would be someone they know and admire, who takes an interest in them and remains in their life for support and friendship. But sometimes, couples are new to the parish and know no one.
Mentoring involves meeting with the couple monthly for six sessions to discuss topics guided by the WTL handbook. Mentors are invited to share experiences and wisdom from their own marriages related to these topics in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere in the mentors’ home. Ideally, deep friendships are formed that last well beyond the wedding date as young couples are incorporated into parish life. Mentor couples consistently report that this process renews their own marriage while preparing another!
Look around! There may be an engaged couple sitting behind you in church right now, working up the nerve to tap you on the shoulder and ask you to be their mentors! Please say Yes!
If you are interested in becoming a WTL Mentor couple, please contact Ron and Kathy Medenwald.
