Reviews
My testimony using For Better & For Ever: "I was in a serious relationship with my boyfriend and being a bit older, we wanted to lead with intention on our road to a potential marriage. Seeing my own family/relative members use "For Better & For Ever" for their marriage preparation, helped me decide to use the same thoughtful and detailed questions for our relationship in discernment for marriage. It helped us sift through our family background and values to take a step back and see that marriage would not be the best fit for us and that our values were slightly misaligned. We are grateful for the space to process the differences and have more of a roadmap in a relationship, rather than just getting married, because it is the next step. It also brought God in our relationship in a different way. Thank you so much for this resource! I highly recommend it as a pre-engagement or serious dating resource as well!"
Best regards,
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" I truly appreciate your encouragement and counsel as I sought advice on how to proceed in petitioning for an annulment. My journey has shown me what a great service you provide the Church in your focus on marriage preparation." Martha A. in Michigan
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We just completed a session with an international couple (Monaco and Indonesia). The first two sessions were in person and established a personal comfort and trust. The last three sessions were by Zoom. All were on Saturday mornings for 2 hours but the Zoom sessions sometimes went for almost 4 hours. It was a good experience; however all four of us agreed that the first two in-person sessions were very important.
Best regards to you and all your teams. Bill and June Bergman, Calgary, Alberta Canada
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Though my fiancé is not of the Catholic faith, he was open to attend pre marriage classes and marry me within my faith so long as he was not required to become Catholic. I initially made contact with Fr. Rob because my fiancé lived out of state and I was looking for a program that fit our situation of not being in the same state. Father Rob encouraged us to begin reading For Better & For Ever and complete the homework within the book. I was very pleased with what each chapter encompassed in For Better & For Ever. My fiancé shared he felt comfortable with the material which allowed him to be open while reviewing the chapters together over the phone. While being mutually open and honest we realized we were not ready to move on with this important Sacrament. Though there is a mutual love for each other, this book allowed us to reflect on certain concerns within our relationship that will require us to address prior to us moving forward with the sacrament of marriage. I’m grateful for the direction Fr. Rob provided us by having us make use of For Better & For Ever. A grateful fan of For Better & For Ever, California
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We are using this resource with refugee couples and it is very helpful, because we can use the English version while they use the French (couples from Burundi or the Congo) or the Vietnamese version, and we can all be on the "same page" while using the language we are most comfortable with. Steve & Kathy Beirne, Portland ME
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The institutions of marriage and family need all the help they can get. And this program is a great resource for couples to use. Joe Mumbach, Houston TX
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Your evaluation of For Better & For Ever? I absolutely love this program. I believe every couple should experience this prior to getting married.
Is there a BENEFIT TO YOUR OWN MARRIAGE from serving as a sponsor couple? Considerable.
Add any additional comment regarding the POSITIVE BENEFITS TO OUR MARRIAGE that come from sponsoring other couples? In our very busy lives, sponsoring a couple gives us a chance to sit together and reflect on our own marriage and our successes and challenges.
To what extent do you try to keep in touch with couples BEYOND THE WEDDING DAY? Frequently.
Add any additional Comment concerning your efforts to "follow-up" beyond the wedding? We live in a transient city so we find that Facebook is a great way to keep in touch and see our couples starting families.
Add any additional Comment regarding PRAYER with your spouse? We pray more often now than earlier in our marriage. Len & Jennifer, Las Vegas NV
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The Sponsor Couples approach is strongly recommended to all parishes in this diocese as the norm for the immediate preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage. This approach is an effective and adaptable way to accompany engaged and cohabitating couples seeking the sacrament of marriage. The “Sponsor couple ministry” is an enriching experience for both the engaged couple and the sponsor couple. Through the use of sponsor couples we are guaranteeing that more couples will be involved in their ongoing formation and conversion journey to change our reality and improve the quality of family life. Diocese of San Bernardino, Impact Statement
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I like your material very much. I looked at three programs; yours is the best I’ve seen… very well grounded in theology and the social sciences. I especially appreciate the training DVD – it’s very helpful. Jim Merhaut, Youngstown OH
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Austin was baptized Lutheran but is non-denominational Christian and I am Catholic - and getting married in a Catholic Church, we have to admit that Austin was a little hesitant to go through "Catholic" marriage prep. We chose to do use your book and meet with a sponsor couple, rather than do the one weekend engagement encounter, because we were looking for something a little more intimate and less "Catholicly" formal.
One of the things we really enjoyed about our meetings was the dialog in the car on the way home from the meetings. That is when we kind of dug deeper into the topics and, even on some nights tears were shed, but, it really opened the lines of communication and allowed us to be very honest about our faith and beliefs.
Shawn and Pamela did an excellent job of really molding the sessions into what fit for us - it was really a personalized experience. The fact that we both came from different religions didn't make the experience less helpful at all, the questions in the books were not specific to "Catholics" or exclusive, so, at the same time, Austin didn't feel like he was being indoctrinated or anything like that. Overall we had a very positive experience and have actually suggested the program to some of our engaged friends. After completing our sessions we realized that we would like to be a sponsor couple one day too! Jennifer & Austin, San Antonio TX
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