GOA Center for Family Care Offers First National Clergy Couple Retreat, Marriage and Ministry: A Seamless Embrace

From October 3rd-6th, 45 clergy couples from all Metropolises gathered in Chicago for the first-ever national Clergy Couple Retreat, with the theme "Marriage and Ministry: A Seamless Embrace," that derives from the underlying conviction that healthy and holy marriages are directly connected to healthy and holy ministry. Couples worshipped together as husband and wife, shared common meals, laughed and cried together, heard four outstanding presentations on topics related to marriage, spent time alone working on their marriages with prepared discussion questions, engaged in small-group discussions on various intersections of the clergy-couple marriage and the parish family, and enjoyed fellowship with one another in a beautiful, relaxed, natural setting. All these elements contributed to a remarkable degree of openness and honesty among participants. The Center for Family Care hosted the retreat, with generous funding from Leadership 100 and help from priests and presvyteres of the Chicago and other Metropolises. Metropolitan Nathanael joined the group one evening and offered warm greetings and encouragement to the participants.