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Online Catholic marriage prep helps couples who can’t
attend traditional classes
By Wayne Laugesen
COLORADO SPRINGS — Andrew and J’ana Rogers wanted a Catholic wedding,
and Colorado Springs Archbishop Michael Sheridan wanted them well
prepared.
Like dozens of other priests and prelates, Bishop Sheridan is tired of
couples using the Church for weddings, only to contracept, divorce and
lead non-Catholic lives after the ceremony. But the bishop’s rigorous
marriage preparation requirements were a problem for Andrew and J’ana,
who couldn’t find a way to attend marriage prep retreats and classes
without J’ana quitting college or Andrew going AWOL.
“Andrew was in the military, and I was working and attending college,”
said J’ana, a student at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs,
who married Andrew a year ago.
They could have opted for a justice of the peace, or a wedding at
Andrew’s Methodist church. Instead, they enrolled in — the $150 one-stop
shop for intense Catholic marriage preparation by correspondence. It
enabled the couple to set aside several hours on Sunday nights to have
serious, heart-to-heart discussions that were essential to answering the
essay questions posed by the Web site.
“The fact is, many couples today are separated by hundreds or thousands
of miles until they are married, and there are other factors that make
it impossible for some couples to attend classes and weekend retreats,”
Bishop Sheridan said. “This is much better than giving someone a pass,
or having a couple give up on the idea of a Catholic marriage.”
Bishop Sheridan said he has concluded that the only drawback of online
marriage prep is that couples don’t build in-person relationships with
other couples while attending preparation functions. That, he said, can
be easily corrected with regular church attendance.
Founded by Christian and Christine Meert, who were hired recently to
direct the Office of Marriage and Family Life for the Diocese of
Colorado Springs, the online curriculum is catching on in a world where
challenges of war, work, college and geographic location sometimes keep
young couples from receiving any marriage preparation at all.
“What impresses me most is that this program doesn’t approach marriage
preparation exclusively from a psychological and practical perspective,”
Bishop Sheridan said. “It takes very seriously the need to teach couples
about the divine institutions of marriage and the meaning of marriage as
a sacrament.”
Skeptical about online marriage preparation at first, Bishop Sheridan
said he conducted extensive research about Christian and Christine Meert,
their teaching methods, and their online curriculum. He was so impressed
with what he found that he asked them to lead his Office of Marriage and
Family Life.
Using the Web site, couples are required to discuss issues such as sex,
contraception, children, drugs, alcohol, extended family, religious
beliefs, prayer and communication skills. In writing, they answer
questions and share their discussions so that the Meerts, and other
marriage prep instructors, can assess them and offer feedback.
The online classes follow the same format as the live classes the Meerts
developed and continue to teach for the Archdiocese of Denver and the
Diocese of Colorado Springs. The classes are rooted in Scripture, Church
teachings and the theology of the body.
Christian and Christine Meert became involved in marriage preparation in
Denver at the same time the archdiocese was expanding and strengthening
marriage preparation requirements. Couples in Denver, and now Colorado
Springs, spend roughly a year meeting marriage prep requirements by
attending classes and retreats.
Christian Meert said the idea for online marriage preparation resulted
from situations that arose frequently in Denver, when they were teaching
only in-classroom marriage prep.
“We had a couple in a remote area on the Western Slope (of Colorado)
that was told by their pastor to go to Denver to do their marriage
preparation,” Christian said. “It was a four-hour drive each way, so we
started working with them by e-mail. The results were good. They were
sharing together in-depth, answering questions and reporting on their
discussions. They really opened their hearts and examined their
spiritual journey.”
Quickly, the Meerts realized they could provide high-end marriage
preparation curriculum to five other couples who simply weren’t able to
be in the Denver Archdiocese long enough or frequently enough to satisfy
marriage preparation requirements.
“Working with them online, the results were very encouraging so we
decided to build a Web site to facilitate real online classes for the
masses,” Christian said.
They contacted LogicFocus Inc., who’s CEO, James Mackin, is a Catholic
who specializes in building Catholic Web sites.
The online curriculum received the approval of the Archdiocese of
Denver’s Office of Marriage and Family Life, and an enthusiastic
endorsement by the Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.
“This allows couples with difficult schedules or living in different
states to have quality marriage preparation as well,” Archbishop Chaput
wrote. “Their classes — both online and in person — are deeply rooted in
the guidance of the Church and John Paul II’s teachings on sexuality,
marriage and family life.”
http://www.CatholicMarriagePrepOnline.com
is recommended as an official option for couples by the bishops of New
Orleans, Denver, Colorado Springs and Buffalo, N.Y. Many others have
been granted individual approval by their local prelates. |
