Marriage Preparation
If you are planning to get married in the Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle, you are required by the Church to set aside some time to prepare for the important step you are about to take. (To allow for this, it is a good idea to give as much notice of your wedding as possible. Six months is a good amount of time.)
Your Parish Priest will help you by arranging a Marriage Preparation Course for you. Couples are often anxious about coming to the Course because they do not know what to expect. We hope that the information contained here will help reduce your worries.
What is a Marriage Preparation Course?
- It is a demonstration by the Church community that it cares about you and would like to be involved in this major event in your life.
- It is a chance for you to find out a little more about each other.
- It is a chance to find out a little more about marriage.
- It is an opportunity to meet other couples who will be getting married at the same time as you.
What the Marriage Preparation Course is not…!
- It is not people giving talks and lectures.
- It is not people putting you on the spot asking you to say what you think about things.
- It is not an attempt to ‘ram religion down your throat’.
- It is not an attempt to convert those of you who are not Catholic.
- It is not people telling you what you can or cannot do.
What form does the Course take?
It is a short course, organised and run by members of the Marriage Preparation team who are a group of married couples from the parish who have been trained specifically for this work. It takes the form of a number of ‘awareness raising activities’ during which you look at and discuss various aspects of marriage using a selection of stimulus materials. Although there may be other couples on the Course, and there may be some group discussions, you will work only with your partner on the activities. You will not be required to share your thoughts and feelings with the whole group.
What happens next?
Some time before your wedding someone will contact you to arrange a date and time for a meeting where you will receive information about the course and have the opportunity to meet the preparation team and other couples who are to be married either in one of our two parish churches or in any of the churches located in the areas of North Shields, Tynemouth, Wallsend and Whitley Bay
