Hello Lovers,

Happy Fall! We hope that you are enjoying these beautiful warm days! Autumn is one of our favorite times of the year with the crisp mornings and evenings and the bounty of the harvest all around. The gifts from our Lord and fruit of the harvest is so visible during this season. That seems to be true also in the fruit of our labors for WWME. Recently we contacted our communities and asked them to really make an effort to reach every priest in acknowledgment of World Priest Day (September 19). We can't tell you how proud and pleased we were with your efforts. We personally heard from many priests and they were touched by your notes and gifts. Many thanks from us! And please continue to love these priests with prayers and also our seminarians that you have adopted. We really do appreciate you!

We'd also like to extend a huge thank you to all the couples who helped at the North Central Catholic Family Conference - September 24-26. Your time and efforts made the conference a family conference where the children could be safe and cared for. And you made it possible for WWME to have a table and real presence there and promote and support sacramental marriage. Another exciting happening is our October 15-17 weekend at Bishop Lane in Rockford. It is filling up quickly with 18 couples already registered. We are excited to have a larger weekend and can't wait to greet them on and be there with the prayer couples and support team on Sunday evening. If you haven't greeted on a weekend for a while come and join us! The energy and loving atmosphere is exhilarating!

Along with that excitement is another announcement that we'd like to make. Tim & Jackie Walsh are our new Inviting Coordinators. Tim & Jackie have been encountered for about 10 years now and have filled a few positions for RMM in the past. They are filled with energy, ideas, and the Holy Spirit definitely works through them. Tim & Jackie shared with us their ideas and vision for Inviting and we are excited too! To our dear communities out there, Tim & Jackie are going to lift you up with new ideas and support for inviting for your community. We really encourage you to keep in close contact with Tim & Jackie and use them to bounce ideas and thoughts off of. They are a terrific resource for you!

It has been a very busy Fall for us (Garry & Arla) and also for RMM. We've seen many changes over the past few months and we are looking forward to next year and beyond. We have spent much time planning for 2005, for weekend dates, events for couples, and events for communities. Tthere are a lot of opportunities to reach for, but we need couples like you to help make them a reality. Some of the events for 2005 that need couples right now are World Marriage Day and the Putt'n on the Ritz dance. These events are months away but we really need to plan for them now, to get things in motion and make them the best they can be. We also have needs that communities can work together to fill. Needs like supporting the weekend by setting it up and greeting on and off, supporting section meetings by housing out of area exec's and bringing in food, inviting as a community by hosting candlelight dinners and information nights. With your support, the dream of changing the world one couple at a time is becoming a reality. And we really want you to know that we love you, we value you, and we Thank You! You're the best!

All our love,

Garry & Arla Thomas

Have you checked out our new Website for Rockford, Madison, and Milwaukee? It's finally here with more options than ever.

There are sections designed for those seeking more information about Worldwide Marriage Encounter and the Weekend. There is also a section dedicated to you, the Encounter couple. Take a moment to browse the site. We guarantee that you will never run out of dialogue questions.

Be sure to visit our events calendar to check out the latest information on dates for the Weekend, Community nights, and "Pray the Rosary" evenings.

We pray that your love and enthusiasm for one another never ends. We pray that you feel welcomed into the Encounter Community.

May you always experience His love and grace in your relationships!

September 10-12, Benet Lake, WI Weekend couples:

John & Jenny Birmingham
John & Mary Edwards
Bill & Sharon Evers
Richard & Bonnie Graczyk
Dean & Kerry Knott
Phil & MaryAnn Parsons
Michael & Mary Pawlak
Brian & Joy Shroeder/Bunzel
Michael & Leslie VanderKooy

The purpose of the Love Circle is to build a loving community by bringing out the beauty that God has placed in each one of us. This revealing of human beauty is brought about through a series of sharing questions.

Each session begins with a prayer by holding hands in a circle. The leader couple asks for God's divine guidance and adds any additional prayers. Trust in each other is gained through prayer, listening, acceptance, and confidentiality. Commenting on one another's sharing or making value judgments can quickly destroy trust and is strictly forbidden during the sharings.

Each session has a theme which is emphasized by the questions. The themes are: self, we, God, Christian Community, sharing of self, and reaching out. The sequence of themes are followed in the order shown.

The leader couple participates in the sharing at the same level as the others in the group. Their role is primarily that of facilitators. They do not "direct" the group in a demanding sense. The leadership role mainly involves scheduling the meetings, selecting the questions, and initiating the sharing.

Continuity in Love Circles is essential. Each session builds on the previous session and interaction all the couples is necessary. Because of these constraints, it is important that each couple commit to attending all meetings. As a guideline, a meeting is postponed (not cancelled) if one or more couples cannot attend. Pre-planning meeting dates at the first session and resolving conflicts at that time simplifies matters. It is often difficult to change a meeting date if all other couples can arrange it.

The sharing format for Love Circles is somewhat different than for most other discussion-type groups. This Love Circle format is one of the main reasons for its success. The emphasis in the sharing format here is listening and acceptance. Persons sharing in response to the question, do so without interruption or comment.

No one is required to respond to a question, and this should be made clear by the leader couple. If someone does not care to answer, they merely say "pass", and turn to the next person. It is very important that each person realize that they can pass if they desire without any consequence.

If you have not experienced a Love Circle in your Community, or if it's been awhile since you have, we encourage you to contact Ben & Jane Deutsch at (630) 377-0635 or by eMail at benluvsjane@aol.com. They will help you set one up and get you going. The guidelines are available in printed form and any couple can facilitate the Circle. Even you!

We are all family and we believe in the lifestyle and mission of Worldwide Marriage Encounter. From time to time we need assistance in fulfilling that mission. To that end, we have installed a quick survey and we want to get some information for what assistance you might be willing or considering to offer.

Everything we do is on a volunteer basis and by filling out our volunteer form you are not committing yourself to anything except being open to your WWME family. Please check it out and "share your couple love" today.

Is the Spirit calling you to be more involved in the WWME movement?

The Rockford/Madison/Milwaukee Marriage Encounter Community is in great need of couples who want to be more actively involved in changing the world one couple at a time! Listed below are some of the ways you can help. If you have any questions about any of these jobs or if you're a Community Leader and have a couple in mind that you think would be a great asset to any of these communities please contact Ben & Jane Deutsch at (630) 377-0635 for more information.

SUPPORT COMMUNITY
House Couple: Responsible for the set up and takedown of the weekend. This job is split between 2 couples.
Greeter Couple: This couple is responsible for scheduling communities to greet on & off for the Weekend.
Prayer Couple Coordinator East: This couple is responsible for making sure all couples on the Weekend from the Eastern part of the Rockford Diocese have a prayer couple and extended Dialogue letter.
Prayer Couple Coordinator North: This couple is responsible for making sure that all Wisconsin couples making the Weekend have a prayer couple and extended dialogue letter.

CONTINUING THE JOURNEY COMMUNITY
Community Start up Couple: This couple would be responsible with helping the CTJ Leaders to get new communities started up. CTJ is also looking for seasonal couples who could help with different functions throughout the year. These different committees would be for "Puttin' on the Ritz" dance, WWME Family campout, and the Rolle Bolle tournament.

INVITING COMMUNITY
Ministry Fair Coordinators: This couple would be responsible for tracking and getting help, if needed, for parish ministry fairs.
Media Coordinators: This couple would be responsible for planning and placing ads in different Catholic publications. They would also explore other media vehicles for getting the WWME word out to people.
Mass Talk Workshoppers: This couple/couples would be responsible for coordinating couples who already have mass talks written. They would also workshop couples who would like to write and present mass talks throughout the 3 dioceses.
Pulpit Pal Coordinators: This couple would be responsible with the scheduling and maintenance of our pulpit pal boards. These new inviting tools are used in the backs of various churches as another means for getting the word out for the weekend.

Is your community looking for a great way to invite couples to the Weekend? A romantic candlelight dinner might be what your community is looking for. Candlelight dinners are easy to give and fun for the whole community. The Rockford/Madison/Milwaukee WWME Community has 2 candlelight dinner kits available for use. Each kit contains all you need to help your community put on a romantic candlelight dinner. If your community is hosting a candlelight dinner please let us know and we'll announce it here in The eSpirit. For more information contact Garry & Arla at (847)658-1585 or by email at: getart@flash.net

FLASH: The Aurora Community will be hosting a Candlelight Inviting Dinner on Nov 6th at Holy Angels Parish in Aurora. If you would like to invite a couple, please contact Keith & Nancy at (630) 801-0910 or by eMail at webcouple@wwmerockford.org.