Don and
Terry Leier
"Deciding
to Live out Love in Marriage" |
A sharing of
our journey of discovery beginning with our courtship and on through 49 years of
marriage – how we had to make our “ Decisions to Love ” as we traveled through
this trip day by day, year by year, through periods of romance, disillusionment
and joy. Following the presentation an opportunity will be given for the
participants to share with their spouses how they are living out their marriage
by making love a decision.
Don and Terry have been married 49 years. They had five children - four
daughters and a son - who have provided them with seven grandchildren.
Don and Terry have been involved in the life of the Church throughout their
married lives. They were introduced to Engaged Encounter by Sr. Mildred
Kaufman in 1981 in Saskatoon and have been involved in EE for the twenty
four years since then. While in Saskatoon they initially served the Western
District as Supply Couple and later as Treasurer Couple. They have also
acted as Saskatoon Community Support, Coordinator and Treasurer Couple. They
wrote their Senior Couple talks in 1990 and have been presenting weekends
ever since, willingly reaching out and helping out Communities in the
Western District. They have resided in Calgary since 1998. |
Ernie
and Sue McCullough
"Dance: In Grace and Beauty a Metaphor for Marriage" |
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The talk
will be on the parallels between dance and marriage related to the theme ‘Love
for a Lifetime’. There will be video representations of dance which will tie in
to the topic and there will be discussions related to key notions such as grace,
intimacy, awkwardness, forgiveness and communication. Our own personal
experiences of dancing will go from dances for the Queen, to frenzied folk dance
weekends, to dancing in nursing homes, and our latest excursions in dance
including Charleston "at our age(64 and 79)!"
Ernie and Sue have
been married for 46 years and have been involved in EE since 1977, and they love
to dance. They were the first Coordinating couple in Saskatoon in 1977, they
revived EE in Fargo North Dakota in 1996-1999 as Coordinating Couple, and they
are now a team couple in Calgary. Their love and dedication, seen in their
commitment to EE is evident by their service to EE at all levels. They treasure
the many great friends they have made throughout the years of their involvement
in EE.
Ernie has taught Philosophy for 38 years and teaches at Saint Mary's University
College in Calgary. Sue and Ernie have four children and eighteen grandchildren.
|
Don and Sharon Marchand
"Once Upon A Time - Dreams Do Come True" |
Can a very young couple of mixed
faith backgrounds, no formal careers and totally differing opinions meet
fall in love and marry? How will God use their differences? How have their
lives been blessed?
Don and Sharon have been married for 36 years and are the parents of seven
children. They live in Leduc, Alberta. They have been involved in EE since
1981 and have also been actively involved in their parish with RCIA and the
“Alpha” program. |
Kevin and
Helen Walker
"Love is a Decision" |
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In
our discussion we will highlight the important decision to love moments and then
how those decisions contribute to ‘Love for a Lifetime’. The group sharing after
our talk will be based on the questions:
(1) What decision to love do I make when I think about what I deeply appreciate
what you have given me in our marriage? Why? How does that make me feel?
(2) What area, do I believe, is where we have the most difficulty making the
decision to love? Why? How do I feel about that?
Kevin and Helen
will have been married for 25 years in August 2005. They have 7 children and
live in Grande Prairie, Alta. They became involved in EE after attending an EE
weekend before their marriage in 1979. They have served as Community
coordinators and have presented weekends as a junior and as a senior couple.
They have been facilitating youth retreats called “Discovery” for the past three
years, as well as serving in “Cursillo” and teaching Natural Family Planning.
|
Brad and
Joan Lewis
"Leaders in Love" |
Engaged Encounter presents love as a
decision for each of us to make. This workshop will look at love: the love St.
Paul writes about, the love each of us are meant to share, and how to keep that
love burning brightly within our EE community.
Joan & Brad
Lewis were married 21 years ago. They are parents of 3 wonderful sons. Joan is a
teacher working with special needs students. Brad is a chaplain of a high
school. in London, Ontario where they live. They have been presenting EE
weekends for the past 11 years as a Junior and a Senior couple. They have also
served their community as coordinators and helped to organize the last EE
convention in London in 1999.
|
Dick and Rita Bergen
"Strengthening Your Marriage with Kindness" |
“By purity, by knowledge, by
patience, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love.”
2 Corinthians 6:6 Kindness is
the oil that takes the friction out of life.
Dick and Rita have been married for 47 years. They have 6 children, 14
grandchildren and 1 great grand child. They attended two Marriage Encounter
weekends over the years. When a very urgent need for a Senior Couple for Engaged
Encounter arose in Prince Albert they were strongly encouraged to get involved.
They attended an EE weekend in 1992, began giving weekends in 1993, and find
giving the weekends very rewarding. They have traveled to other communities to
help out and served as coordinators for Prince Albert for nine years. They have
also attended many district meetings and one convention. |
Brad and Elisabeth Danis
"Fight for a Lifetime" |
It is easy to assume we can just
sit back and expect our marriage to last for a lifetime however the truth is
we have to fight for it. What is the armor we need to succeed?
Brad and Liz have been married for 15 years and have a son named Dalton. They live in Surrey, BC. They
attended an Engaged Encounter weekend to prepare for their marriage and have
been involved in EE in Vancouver ever since. Brad and Liz are also involved with
the Vancouver Archdiocesan Marriage Prep program. They have held every
position possible in the Vancouver community. Brad and Liz’s enthusiasm and dedication to
the weekend and serving couples preparing for marriage in the Church is
unending. |
|
Enrichment Workshop for CEE Priests, Sisters, Brothers, and Deacons |
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This workshop is still in the planning stage and we are not able to provide details at the time of printing.
The focus is to provide our hardworking CEE Religious an opportunity to enjoy an
enrichment and discussion that is geared to meet our specific needs. |
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Couple Massage Lessons |
| If you have ever
come home at the end of the day and wished your spouse had the skill to get that
painful knot in you neck out or wished you could help relieve the stress for
your spouse, this session is for you. Trained therapists will on hand to guide
couples on some quick and easy massage techniques. We have planned the session
at the end of the day to help work out any ‘I have been sitting too long kinks’
and loosen the joints for some country two-steeping later that evening. |
SESSION INFORMATION